Starstruck
by kendrickyoulittleshit
Summary: They say that one of the worst things you can do is meet your idol, but what happens when you start dating them? Based on the prompt: Beca watches Chloe as she is a famous person. Beca is a superfan, something about Beca catches Chloe's eye.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I'm not sure what this is, or how long it will continue, but I hope everyone enjoys. Thank you to Liz for beta-ing this for me!**

* * *

Beca Mitchell had never hated Jesse Swanson more in her entire life.

"C'mon, Bec, it'll be fun," he'd grinned hopefully, giving her his best puppy dog look.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeaaase?"

"Fine," she'd sighed, knowing that it would be easier to just indulge him than to hear him whine about whatever it was he wanted for the rest of the afternoon. "But you have to buy me lunch."

"Deal," he'd said, springing up from their worn out couch. "Let's go!"

And that was how Beca Mitchell, aspiring DJ, badass extraordinaire, found herself surrounded by hundreds of fourteen year old girls at Chloe Beale's CD signing. She slipped her headphones on, drowning out the high-pitched chatter of the girls around her, and shot Jesse a glare worthy of weaponizing. He only grinned back and moved one ear cup away from her head.

"C'mon, Becaw, you know this is fun."

"Jess, we're the oldest people here." While this wasn't strictly true, Jesse did appear to be the only guy there who was both over seventeen and not a middle-aged dad.

"So?"

"We're also the last in line," Beca pointed out, leaning against the door of the room they'd been shut in.

"Who cares? I'm going to get to make some movie contacts, and you're going to get to meet the girl of your dreams. It's a win-win."

"Would you keep your voice down please?" Beca hissed, glancing around and flushing under the judgmental gaze of the two moms before them in line.

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. "But seriously, you've been obsessed with Chloe Beale for like, ever, and now you're finally going to get to meet her. That's got to count for something."

"Yeah, yeah," Beca grumbled, sliding her headphones back over her ears.

Being her oldest friend, Jesse was the only one who knew about her adoration for the redheaded singer-actress, but even he didn't know that Chloe's were the only movies she would willingly watch more than once (aside from Harry Potter), that a much younger Beca had once sent Chloe a fan letter, and that Chloe's first CD was stuck in the third slot of her car's CD changer, but she refused to get it fixed. Beca didn't know where the fascination came from, since she typically didn't care about celebrities or Hollywood, but there was something about Chloe that kept her captivated, something real about her that made her impossible for Beca to shake.

"Alright people, let's move it along, we don't have all day, come on!"

After two hours, a security guard's loud voice caused the dwindling line to shuffle forwards, placing Beca and Jesse about a dozen people away from meeting Chloe. Beca tipped her head back, trying to see over the woman in front of her, then gave up, tapping her fingers against her leg to the beat of the her newest mix. In what felt like a surprisingly short amount of time, Jesse was nudging Beca forward and then they were in front of Chloe Beale herself.

If possible, the redhead looked even more gorgeous in person than she did on-screen. Her hair fell in perfect waves, and the baby blue dress she had on made her eyes pop. When her eyes fell on a grumpy looking Beca and a hopeful looking Jesse, the last in line, her smile widened just a bit before she spoke.

"Hi, I'm Chloe," she grinned, taking in the slight flush on Beca's cheeks as the brunette pulled down her bulky headphones. "How are you guys today?"

"Great!" Jesse smiled.

"Fine," Beca's less enthusiastic response caught the redhead off guard, making her laugh.

"Sorry for the wait," Chloe said, pulling a CD and poster combo towards her.

"Oh, it wasn't too bad," Jesse shrugged. "Just a little shrill."

"Yeah, it can get kind of loud at these things," Chloe smiled. She looked over at Beca. "But at least you had something to block it out. What are you listening to?"

"Nothing," Beca said quickly, pulling the headphones from around her neck. Before she could stow them away, Jesse spoke.

"Beca's a DJ," he said proudly. "So probably one of her mixes or something."

"You're a DJ? Where do you spin?"

"Aspiring," Beca glared at Jesse. "Mostly just small clubs."

"Cool!" Chloe actually sounded interested, leaning in closer. "Would you let me hear something you've done?"

"Uh," Beca glanced around at the mostly empty room. "I mean, do you have time? And it's really rough so I don't know if you'd like it and-"

"I have time," Chloe cut Beca off with a gentle smile. "But if you don't want me to, that's fine. I respect not wanting to show something unless it's finished."

Jesse tried to keep himself from smirking as he watched Beca's internal struggle. On one hand, this could be a great opportunity for her to have someone important listen to her work. On the other hand, it was kind of embarrassing, since the mix was probably one of Chloe's own songs and it might be a rough cut.

"Okay," Beca relinquished her headphones and iPod after a moment of debate. "But just remember it's not done yet."

"I'm sure it's fine," Chloe took the headphones from Beca, brushing her hand slightly. She slipped the headphones on, and her eyebrows raised in surprise when she heard one of her own tracks play. The look of surprise soon turned to one of awe, and then pure enjoyment.

"This is really good," she said, slightly too loud. She pulled the headphones down at the end of the song. "Was that Titanium and Baby It's You?"

"Yeah," Beca gave a rare smile as she took back her headphones and iPod. "Thanks."

"Sure," Chloe smiled happily. "What made you think of those two songs together?"

"Her monster crush on you," Jesse said under his breath. Beca turned about four shades of red before she could form words.

"I am going to _kill_ you," she hissed at him, avoiding Chloe's gaze.

The singer just laughed. "Don't kill him. I'm flattered. Really, it's cool."

"Oh my God," Beca continued to glower at Jesse, who had the good sense to at least look somewhat sorry and afraid. "Sorry about him. He wasn't socialized properly as a child."

"Well, my only company was you, so that would explain it," Jesse retaliated.

"How long have you two been dating?" Chloe asked with a tilt of her head.

"Oh God, never," Jesse said.

"Ew," was Beca's eloquent input.

Before Chloe could ask another question, a stressed looking blonde came in through the door behind them, carrying a clipboard, a coffee, and a phone and desperately looking around for someone. Chloe, noticing her, waved her over.

"Aubrey, come here. You've got to listen to this."

"I can't right now Chloe," the woman said, checking her iPhone and then glancing up at Beca and Jesse. "We need to go, or you'll be late for your late show taping."

"Oh," Chloe's face fell. She turned to the two friends. "Well, it was really nice to meet you both. Thanks for letting me listen."

"Sure," Beca said, for some reason feeling disappointed.

"Chloe, we need to go now," the blonde was now slightly green, and Jesse inched so that he was slightly behind Beca.

"Just a second, Aubrey. They still haven't gotten their stuff," Chloe frowned.

"Fine, but hurry up. I'll be in the car."

"Sorry about her," Chloe gave a tight smile. "Now, I'm sorry, who do I make this out to? Beca and…?"

"Jesse," he said. "But if you need to go, it's really okay. We kinda ate up a lot of your time."

"No, you came and waited in line, so you should at least get what you came for. Here you go," she handed Jesse a CD and a poster. After spending an extra minute signing Beca's, she handed it to her with a smile. "Thanks again for letting me listen. Good luck, and I hope I hear from you soon."

"Nice to meet you," Jesse said as Chloe exited with a wave.

The two friends walked the short distance to the car, Beca scolding and glaring at Jesse the whole way. When they finally reached Jesse's beat up sedan, she sat in angry silence.

"Come on, I said I was sorry. It just slipped out!" Jesse said as he buckled his seat belt.

"Yeah, don't blame me when my fist slips and hits your face later," Beca scowled, crossing her arms.

"I'll keep that in mind. But hey, at least you got to meet her. And she listened to your mix!"

"Yeah, okay, that was cool, whatever. I'm still mad at you."

"I can live with that. What'd she write on your CD?"

"What do you mean?"

"She wrote something extra, didn't you see?"

"No," Beca quickly pulled the CD from her bag and pulled the jacket out of the case. On the front in disgustingly girly handwriting were the words "Page 4!" Beca slowly flipped to the correct page, and read aloud. "'Beca, you're cute when you have a "monster crush." Call me sometime. Chloe."

At the bottom of the note was a phone number.

"Holy shit," Jesse said, taking the autograph from Beca. "Are you going to call her?"

Beca sat for a moment, weighing her options. Making a decision, she grinned. "We'll see."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This chapter is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. **

* * *

"If you don't call her, I will," Jesse said from the couch, interrupting Beca's contemplative pacing across their small shared apartment. "You know she swings both ways, so I might actually have a chance."

Beca shot him a look. "Yeah, but I don't think bestiality is something she's into, so I guess you're out of the running."

"You wound me with your scary words," Jesse clutched at his heart dramatically, flopping backwards and nearly falling off the couch. He dangled precariously, his head inches from the floor. "But seriously, you should call her. Like, today. Like, now. In five minutes. Sometime within the next hour. Call her. It's the third day."

"Why do you even care?" Beca addressed the mostly upside down boy.

"Why are you so afraid?" He challenged, red-faced from his position. He sat up. "Seriously, Bec, what are you so scared of? It's just a phone call."

"I'm not scared!" Then, in a smaller voice. "It's just, what if she didn't really mean to give me her number? Maybe it was all just a mistake and she was just being nice because she felt bad for me. I dunno."

"Beca Mitchell," Jesse said sternly. "Grow a pair and call the girl. As your best friend and also as your lesbro, I'm telling you that if you don't call Chloe, I will call her myself and tell her that you're too much of a weenie to pick up the phone. Your choice."

Beca blinked in surprise. "Fine, I'll call her, Jesus."

"Okay, look Bec, I know you think she's great and all, but do you really think she's on par with the supposed son of God, I mean-"

Beca whacked him across the face with a throw pillow, and held her phone to her ear. It began ringing, and a look of panic crossed Beca's face.

"What if she wanted me to text her?" She hissed, moving to hang up the phone. Jesse sprang up from the couch and pulled Beca into a one-armed headlock, forcing the phone to her ear with one hand and holding her arm with the other. They struggled for at least two more rings, before-

"Aubrey Posen."

"Uh, hi," Beca said, thrown. Jesse, keeping his hold on her, leaned down and pressed his ear to the other side of the phone. "Is, uh, Chloe there?"

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Um, Beca? From the CD signing?"

"Just a moment, please," a muffled argument could be heard in the background before there was a sound of fumbling, and then another voice spoke.

"Beca?"

"Yeah?"

"Hi!" Chloe's enthusiasm burst through the phone. "Sorry, Aubrey was holding my phone."

"Yeah, it's cool," Beca said, attempting to elbow Jesse. "So, uh, what's up?"

"Not much, just wrapping up a shoot. I'm starving though. I haven't really had much time to eat today."

Jesse poked Beca hard on the shoulder. "Ow!"

"What was that?" Chloe sounded amused.

"Jesse being a dick," Beca said drily. "If you're not busy, would you maybe want to grab dinner or something?"

"That sounds great!" Chloe's smile could be heard through the phone. "Where do you want to go?"

"How do you feel about hamburgers?"

"Love them."

"I know of a pretty low-key place near where your CD signing was, if you're close. If not, we can go somewhere else."

"I'm pretty close by there, actually. Let's say, in an hour? Is that enough time?"

"Sounds great," Beca smiled to herself. "I'll see you there."

"Can't wait," Chloe chirped. "Bye!"

The call disconnected, and Jesse let go of Beca.

"Ooooohhhh, somebody has a date, somebody has a date," he singsonged, dancing away to avoid her swing at his shoulder.

"Shut up," she said, but she was smiling.

"What're you gonna wear?"

"You're such a girl," Beca rolled her eyes. "I dunno, probably just what I have on."

He wrinkled his nose. "Really?"

"What's wrong with this?"

"Beca," he began dramatically. "As someone who was once totally warm for your form before you completely jumped the lady train, I'm just saying, as a friend, you can do better."

"Everything you just said," Beca frowned. "Never again."

"You know I'm right."

"Ugh, fine," she walked towards her room. "C'mon and help me, Queer Eye."

"Hey!"

Fifty minutes later, Beca sat alone in a diner booth, fiddling nervously with her phone and gulping down water. She and Jesse had picked out a red tank top and a grey vest with dark jeans, but now she was wishing she hadn't worn something so low-cut. She'd argued with Jesse that it looked a little desperate, but he pushed that it was "tasteful" with the vest, which spoke to the fact that the only channel that worked on their busted TV was the Style network. After about five minutes of waiting, Chloe walked in, a baseball cap pulled low and wearing jeans. She spotted Beca and quickly made her way over.

"Hi!"

"Hi, yourself," Beca smiled, pushing a glass of water towards her. "Did you find the place okay?"

"Yeah, it wasn't too far from me, actually," Chloe pulled her hat off and ran a hand through her hair, which Beca tried not to focus on. "So tell me what's good here."

"Well, you can't go wrong with the classic," Beca opened up a menu. "But I usually get the double-decker."

"What is that, like a McDouble?"

"Better."

"I'll just get what you get, and if I don't like it, I'll just blame you," Chloe smiled to let Beca know she was kidding.

"Fine," Beca smirked. She caught the waitress' eye and nodded, holding up two fingers. "But you're gonna like it."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Chloe murmured, causing Beca to flush pink. "So, tell me about yourself."

"There's not much to tell," Beca shrugged. "Grew up in Oregon, started mixing when I was thirteen, graduated high school, and moved down here. Now I live with Jesse and try to work as much as I can."

"How long have you two known each other?" She seemed genuinely interested, surprising Beca.

"Um… I guess since we were around three," Beca smiled fondly. "We were in the same preschool, and I whacked him over the head with a toy fire truck. I thought he would cry, but he just laughed, and he's been my best friend ever since, even if he is an idiot."

"Well, he seemed like a nice idiot when I met him," Chloe looked up as the waitress approached with two huge hamburgers stacked high. She set the plates down in front of the two girls and left without a word, leaving Chloe to stare at her burger in shock. She looked up at Beca, blue eyes wide. "This huge."

"Uh huh."

"This is taller than you."

"Easy now."

"How do you eat all of this?"

"Practice," Beca grinned. "If you need to cut it up, I promise I won't tell anybody."

"Oh, well thank you," Chloe rolled her eyes as she picked up her silverware.

"Okay, your turn," Beca said. At the redhead's confused look, she continued. "Tell me about you. The real you, not… magazine you."

"Well," she swallowed and took a sip of water. "I'm from Miami. I named my dog after a Michael Jackson song. I go to yoga but I hate every second of it. I like TV but I can't sit still long enough for movies. I read whenever I can. I call my mom every day. I feel like I'm rambling weird things about myself right now and I should probably stop."

Beca laughed, and the two continued chatting as they ate their dinner. They had a surprising amount in common, particularly musically. Beca rarely encountered someone whose musical tastes ranged as far and wide as hers, yet Chloe was full of surprises and even recommended several new bands for her to check out. They'd also read many of the same books, each with a love for classics and a loathing for all things Twilight (which Chloe made Beca promise to never reveal, since one of her songs was featured on the movie's soundtrack). They even had similar tattoos.

"Can I ask you something?" Beca asked, swiping the check before the other girl could move.

"Sure," Chloe said, reaching for the check.

Beca slapped her hand away. "I've got this one."

"Then I'll just have to get the next one," Chloe said with a wink. Laughing softly at Beca's look of surprise, she spoke again. "What did you want to ask me?"

The brunette looked down at the table, tracing a ring with her finger. "Why me?"

"Because you're intriguing. Because you let me listen to your mix. Because you're hot," Chloe nudged Beca's knee with her own, grinning when she caught her eye. "I don't really know why. There was just… an attraction. I don't know how to explain it."

"Well," Beca took a deep breath. "Ditto."

Chloe burst out laughing as she stood. "'Ditto'? What are you, fifteen? Come on, walk me to my car."

Beca slipped some cash into the check and stepped out of the booth. With a wave goodbye to the waitress, the two girls stepped out of the diner and began walking in the direction of their cars, coincidentally parked several spaces away from each other. Chloe's arm brushed against Beca's as they walked, chatting casually. They stopped when they reached Chloe's black Prius, both girls suddenly awkward.

"You know, that was the best burger I've had in a really long time," Chloe smiled. "The company wasn't half bad either."

"Oh gee, thanks," Beca rolled her eyes. Chloe took a half step closer, invading Beca's space and causing her heartbeat to quicken. "Don't outdo yourself with the compliments there."

"Beca?"

"Hm?"

"Shut up."

Chloe's lips met Beca's, sending a spark of electricity through them, though she kept the kiss short and sweet. They pulled apart, both grinning like fools and trying to hide it.

Chloe spoke first. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Beca said. Chloe turned and opened the car door. Before she could get in, Beca stopped her. "Chloe."

"Hm?"

She turned back around, only to have Beca press her lips to hers, a real kiss this time, one that lasted considerably longer than the first one. Beca pulled back, a smirk on her face.

"See ya."

With that, she turned and walked to her own car, leaving Chloe to touch her tingling lips and wonder just what she'd gotten herself into.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I'm sorry for the formatting mistakes in this chapter! It all looked fine before I hit publish, but something must've gone sideways in the actual process. Anyway, there's nothing new here except some line breaks, so, once again, I apologize!**

* * *

"You made the tabloids," Jesse slapped a handful of magazines down on the table in front of Beca with a goofy grin. It had been a little over a week since Beca's first date with Chloe, and she and the redhead had been out once more, and met for coffee whenever Chloe could catch a break in her busy schedule. Spending time with Chloe had proven to be somewhat inspirational for Beca, sparking new mix ideas and causing her to put in long hours as she worked after her late nights spinning.

Beca looked up from her large mug of coffee, staring at Jesse blankly. "I just woke up."

"Well, like a normal human, I've been up for three hours," he sat down next to her and grabbed a tangerine from the bowl of fruit at the center of the table. "So I went down to Nick's because we were out of milk, and while I was checking out, I was flipping through a magazine, and guess whose face I saw smashed against Chloe's face in at least four different magazines, including but not limited to: Star, InTouch, Us Weekly, and this weird one?"

"Let me see that."

Abandoning her coffee, Beca snatched the magazine out of Jesse's hand and looked for herself. Sure enough, that was her face, mostly blocked by Chloe's, on the fifth page or so in, accompanied by a short article.

"'Chloe Beale was spotted with a "mystery woman" late last week. Has the singer moved on from her breakup with Tom Reed, or is this just a rebound? A source close to the star says-"

"I can read, thanks," Beca cut Jesse off, frowning down at the magazine. "You said there were more?"

"Uh huh," Jesse began peeling his tangerine. "I just grabbed the ones that I had time to read in line."

"This is fuckin' weird," she flipped through another magazine.

"So I guess the date went well then," he said with a smirk, popping a piece of fruit in his mouth. "Ooh, sour."

"I wonder if Chloe's seen this."

"She's probably used to it."

* * *

"You made the tabloids."

"What?" Chloe asked, taking the headphones out of her ears and slowing her pace on the treadmill. She'd forced Beca to send her the mix she'd heard at the CD signing, immediately adding it to her workout playlist. Several times. She'd been winding down the third repetition, ending her workout on a high note, when she was interrupted.

"The tabloids," Aubrey said, handing a handful of magazines to her client. "You and that girl-"

"Beca."

Aubrey took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right. You two were seen on your date last week."

"So?" Chloe grabbed a towel and wiped her face as she stepped off the treadmill, sitting down to stretch. "It's not really a big deal."

"To you. Have you thought about how this would affect Beca?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's not you. She's not the girl who's in magazines, or hounded by paparazzi, or stalked by crazy fans. She's never had to deal with this before, and it can be scary."

"Oh," Chloe said, realization dawning as she looked up at her publicist. "Shit. I need to call her."

"Before you do, can I ask you something?"

"Okay...?"

Aubrey perched on a bench next to Chloe's phone, weighing her words carefully before she spoke. "Do you know what you're doing with this? With Beca?"

"Are you asking as my friend or my publicist?"

"Both," Aubrey said, relaxing her ramrod straight posture and leaning against the weighted bar. "But mostly as a friend. I just... What do you really know about this girl? You met her at a CD signing, you've been on a couple of dates, but what do you know about her? About her background? How do you know she's not going to sell stories about you to the tabloids? Or use you for her own gain?"

"She wouldn't do that," Chloe frowned, pushing a strand of sweaty hair from her face as she stretched. "I know we don't know each other very well yet, but Bree, she's the first person I've felt any real connection with since the Tom thing."

"That's great," Aubrey said, giving her a genuine smile.

"And there's something about her," Chloe mused. "That I just trust. I offered to give her information to some labels and club promoters, but she told me not to. She said that if she was going to make it, she wanted it to be on her own merit, not on somebody else's coattails. I think she's the real deal, Bree. I really do."

Aubrey paused, giving herself time to think before she spoke again. "You know I'm so happy that you're happy, and seem to be moving on. I just want to make sure you aren't jumping in to anything you're not prepared for."

"Aubrey," Chloe said seriously, a twinkle in her eye. "As wise men say, only fools rush in."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I really regret telling you that I was obsessed with Elvis as a kid."

Chloe just grinned.

"Call Beca," the blonde stood. "And just be careful, okay."

She was nearly out the door before Chloe stopped her. "Aubrey?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. I uh," she looked down at the floor, and then back up. "I appreciate it."

"Of course."

"Maybe you can meet her sometime soon. You, me, Beca, and her friend Jesse could go to lunch or something."

Aubrey thought it over. "I guess that would be okay. Is Jesse a guy or a girl?"

"A guy," Chloe grinned. "A cute guy. I could set you up..."

"No," Aubrey said, rolling her eyes and walking out the door.

Chloe called after her, laughing. "Don't you want somebody to love you tender?!"

"Goodbye Chloe."

Chloe laughed and grabbed her phone, finding Beca's name in her contact list. She quickly hit call and pressed the phone to her ear.

* * *

Beca's phone rang across the apartment, interrupting her studious examination of the magazines bearing her face. Jesse, seated on the couch and flipping through a copy of In Touch, checked her phone from where it sat on the coffee table before him.

"It's Chloe," he said, not giving her any time to react before he answered the call. "Hello? Hi Chloe. Yeah, she saw it. No, I don't think so."

Beca stood and snatched the phone from his hand, flicking him on the back of the head. "Hey."

"Hi," Chloe's said. "So you saw it, huh?"

"Yeah," Beca said, walking to her room and closing the door. She sat down on her bed, leaning back against the wall. "Jesse found it this morning while he was getting milk."

"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't even see anybody around, and I'd totally get it if it freaked you out and you wanted to maybe cool it for a while, and if I were you I'd be mad too, and-"

"Okay, whoa, slow down," Beca laughed. "Jesus, if singing and acting ever dry up, you'd probably have a career in rap. Or auctioneering."

"I'd be a terrible auctioneer," Chloe said. "So, are you okay? You're not freaked out or mad?"

"No," Beca said. "I mean, auctioneering isn't for everybody, it's a really refined skill. Not everyone can do it."

"Very funny, wise ass," Chloe's smile was evident in her voice. Beca could picture her rolling her eyes, something that happened a lot between the two. "Be serious for a second."

"Fine," Beca huffed in mock annoyance. "No, I'm not mad. It's kinda really weird, but doesn't it sort of come with the territory with you?"

"Well," she let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess so. If you'd want to stop this... thing that we're doing, I'd completely understand."

"No!" The brunette shot straight up, and then, catching herself, settled back down. "I mean, I don't want to stop... whatever we are. Unless this is you letting me down gently in which case I will hang up now and crawl under my bed and never see daylight again."

Chloe laughed. "Calm down, no need to go all Boo Radley on me. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with this. Aubrey stopped by this morning and kind of reminded me that being in tabloids is not exactly a common thing for you, and I wanted to check in and see if you were alright."

"I'm fine," Beca assured her. "Jesse's cutting out all of the pictures and making a collage for the fridge, so I think that's the worst that'll come of it."

"Oh God. Speaking of Jesse, there's something I wanted to ask you about."

"Please don't say threesome."

"What?"

"What?"

"No... No. I was going to ask if you and Jesse would want to come to lunch with me and Aubrey on Sunday. Why did you think...?"

"It's come up," Beca said drily. "I'll ask him and get back to you."

"The answer is yes, to whatever it is!" Jesse yelled through the door.

Chloe laughed, having heard him faintly. "Alright, well, I need to go, but I'll text you later."

"Okay."

"Bye Chloe!" Jesse called.

"Bye to Jesse," Chloe giggled.

"Don't encourage him," Beca groaned. "Bye."

They disconnected the call, and Beca placed her phone on her desk.

"So what're we doing?" Jesse's voice was muffled on the other side of the door.

Beca groaned and flopped back on her bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you to everyone who has favorited/ followed/ left a review! And a very special thanks to Liz at .com for beta-ing this for me! Also, there were some formatting issues with Chapter 3 for which I'd like to apologize. I'll be going in within the next few days and fixing it. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"They're late," Aubrey pursed her lips as she checked her watch.

"She said they were on their way," Chloe took a sip of water, checking the time on her phone. "Jesse's car wouldn't start, so they had to take Beca's."

"Still late," the blonde grumbled under her breath.

"Be nice," Chloe shot her a look.

The two women sat back, Aubrey tapping her foot and alternating between checking her watch and the door. Chloe ignored her, knowing that Aubrey's uptight behavior was mostly due to nerves. Despite saying that she didn't want to be set up with Jesse, Aubrey had asked questions about him all morning. She'd tried to disguise her interest by throwing in a question about Beca occasionally, but Chloe had known her publicist long enough to be able to see right through her.

"Is that them?"

Chloe looked up from her phone to see an annoyed Beca with a cheerful as ever Jesse heading towards their table. She stood slightly, kissing Beca on the cheek and smiling down at her. "Hi."

Beca smiled back briefly. "Hi."

They all sat down, and Chloe made introductions. "Aubrey, this is Beca and Jesse."

"Nice to meet you," Aubrey said primly, shaking hands with the late arrivals. "I've heard a lot about you both."

"Good things, I hope," Jesse grinned, placing his napkin on his lap.

"Of course," Chloe said, signaling for their waiter. They all placed their orders, Beca and Jesse choosing quickly. Once the waiter left, Chloe spoke again. "I'm sorry about your car."

"It's okay," he shrugged. "I usually take the bus to work anyway."

"I'll call Luke later and have him come look at it," Beca shot him a stern look.

"Where do you work?" Aubrey asked.

"Right now I just answer phones at a studio downtown."

"Oh please," Beca frowned, nudging him with her elbow. "He's an intern with a recording studio that specializes in scoring movies."

"I didn't know that," Chloe said, sounding impressed.

"It's really not as cool as it sounds," Jesse said. "I mostly just answer the phone and get coffee. Sometimes they let me sit in on a session, and if I behave-"

"Which is never," Beca interjected under her breath.

Jesse continued as if she'd never spoken, "- they sometimes ask me for my opinion. Oh, and one time, I got to stack CDs. It's a very important job, as you can probably tell."

"Sounds like it," Chloe smiled, noticing that Aubrey was fighting one herself.

"Oh, trust me, it is," he nodded. "So important that they insist on calling me Justin instead of Jesse, just to keep me humble."

At this, Aubrey let herself crack a smile. "So what is it that you want to do?"

"Besides become the best CD stacker in the country? I want to score movies," he said. "So, as much as I complain about it, this job is actually a really good way for me to get my foot in the door."

"That's awesome," Aubrey said. "So you want to score movies, and Beca, you want to be a DJ?"

"Or a producer," she nodded, taking a sip of water.

"I've been trying to get her to let me pass her name to some of the people I know in that industry," Chloe pouted. "But she won't let me."

"I told you," Beca shook her head at the redhead's stubbornness. "I appreciate it, but I want to get noticed for my own talent. It would feel like cheating. Besides, I don't want to abuse you and your connections."

"You wouldn't be," Chloe huffed.

Beca ignored her and turned to Aubrey. "I actually have a gig on Thursday, at this club called Paranoia. You and Chloe and whoever else are welcome to come by, if you want."

"That sounds... interesting," Aubrey said, not unkindly. "I've actually never been much for the club scene, but from what I hear, you're worth a field trip."

Beca blushed at the compliment and smiled over at Chloe. "I'll give your names to the guy out front then. Just let me know if something comes up."

At that moment, the waiter returned with their food. Aubrey studied Beca over her salad, watching as the girl made sure everyone had their own plate before she even looked at her own. That was the odd thing about Beca, she'd realized. The girl put off an alternative, even aloof vibe, yet she clearly cared about Jesse, and didn't want to take advantage of Chloe's celebrity. She'd even made sure Aubrey had her food and included her in her invitation to Chloe, which is something the singer's ex, Tom, would never have thought to do.

"So, Aubrey," Beca said, tucking in to a turkey sandwich. "Are you a saint or some kind glutton for punishment to work for Chloe?"

"Hey!"

Aubrey laughed at her friend's indignant expression. "Both. But mostly the first one."

"How did you two end up working together?" Jesse asked.

"We've known each other since we were kids," Aubrey explained. "Our moms were good friends from college. Once I graduated with a degree in PR, Chloe called me and offered me a job."

"I'm trying to convince her to stay on with me, but she's determined to save up and go to law school," Chloe said sadly.

"Law school huh?" Jesse said, taking the salt from Beca. "What kind of law?"

"I'm going to run to the restroom," Chloe stood, placing her napkin in her chair. "Beca, come with me?"

"But," Beca said, looking up from her plate with a mixture of fear and sadness. "Sandwich."

"Please?" Chloe pouted. Beca let out a sigh and stood, following Chloe to the back of the restaurant and leaving Aubrey and Jesse to talk.

"Do you really need company to pee, I mean honestly-" Beca was cut off by Chloe pushing her up against the door of the bathroom, causing her to catch her breath. "Well, hello."

"Hi," Chloe grinned down at her and kissed her firmly. "I missed you."

"You saw me the other day," Beca said, placing her hands in Chloe's cardigan pockets and pulling her closer.

"Does that mean I can't miss you?"

"Not if this is going to become a thing every time you do."

"Good," Chloe kissed her again, quickly this time. "But I actually do have to pee."

"Of course you do," Beca rolled her eyes as Chloe stepped back and into a stall. "So, are you setting up Jesse and Aubrey?"

"Is it obvious?"

"Just a little," Beca rolled her eyes and pulled a paper towel out of the dispenser. "I don't think Jesse noticed though, so you're good there."

"Good. I just think he and Aubrey would be a good match."

"Weirdly, so do I," she mused, folding her paper towel into an airplane. "Aubrey's not as scary when she's just being your friend."

"Yeah," Chloe said over the sound of flushing. She exited the stall and began washing her hands. "She just gets stressed out when she's working. Will you hand me a towel?"

Beca handed her paper towel airplane to Chloe, who looked at it curiously before taking it.

"You're so weird," the redhead laughed.

"That's why you keep coming back," Beca smirked. "It keeps you on your toes."

"Sure it is, Mitchell," she said as they walked out of the bathroom. Before they could head for their table, they were stopped by a waitress.

"Excuse me," she said, setting down a large tray . "I'm sorry to bother you, but are you Chloe Beale?"

"Yes," Chloe said, taking in the woman's serious tone. "Is there a problem?"

"I just wanted to let you know that there's a big crowd of paparazzi out front," the woman said tiredly, pushing hair out of her face. "I think they're trying to get a picture of you two together. At least, that's what they were saying when I came in."

"Thanks for letting me know," Chloe said, biting her bottom lip.

"And," the woman said. "Um, I really do hate to ask this, but my daughter is a huge fan, and I was wondering if I could get an autograph."

"Of course," she said with a smile, taking Tara's pen and paper. "Who do I make it out to?"

After a quick autograph and picture, Beca and Chloe made their way back to the table, where Jesse and Aubrey were chatting animatedly about Disney soundtracks. With one look at Chloe's face, Aubrey went on alert.

"What's wrong?"

"Paparazzi," Chloe sighed, looking exhausted.

"Shit," Aubrey hissed under her breath. "How do you know?"

"A waitress tipped me off. What should we do?"

"Okay, here's the deal," Aubrey snapped into business mode, pulling her cell phone and a pair of sunglasses from her purse. "Beca, you and Jesse go about five minutes after me and Chloe. Don't say anything to them, don't answer any questions, just keep your head down and get to your car. Do both of you have sunglasses?"

They both nodded mutely, Beca looking even paler than usual and Jesse wide-eyed.

"Good," Aubrey said with a tight smile. "They'll mostly stick with us, but some might come after you Beca, so just make sure you keep your cool and don't talk. When you get to your car, take the long way home."

"Jesus," Beca said faintly.

Chloe squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry."

She shot her a smile. "It's okay. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later. They still don't even know my name."

"Try to keep it that way," Aubrey said, standing and throwing some cash on the table. "I've got your meals this time. Chloe, we need to go."

"Bye," the redhead said sadly, squeezing Beca's hand one more time before standing.

"See you later," Beca gave her a grin. "Text me when you get home."

"It was nice to meet you," Jesse said to a quickly retreating Aubrey. She waved in response and then they were gone.

Beca and Jesse sat in silence, waiting for their five minutes to be up. After their allotted time, Jesse looked up.

"Ready?"

"Here goes nothing," Beca said, standing up and preparing to face the crowd of camera lenses that awaited. She and Jesse put on their sunglasses, thanked the hostess, and walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Whew! So this chapter is slightly longer than usual, but it'll make sense as to why later on. Once again, special thanks and apologies to Liz for beta-ing this. Also, the song used in this chapter is ****_Glad You're Resurrected_**** by The White Panda. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Yes, Mom. Uh huh. Yeah, I'll send you a copy. No, she's a very nice girl. Okay. Okay," Jesse paced across the small kitchen, cell phone pressed to his ear. On the table, a small stack of magazines lay next to a pair of scissors and a glue stick, cut out pictures of Jesse and Beca ducking through paparazzi spread out on a cardboard strip. A knock sounded at the door, and Jesse looked relieved.

"Okay, yes, Mom, look, I have to go," he said, walking to the door and peering through the peephole. He opened the door for Luke, stepping back to allow him inside. "Okay. Okay. Okay. Yes. I will. Okay. Love you too. Bye."

"Mama's boy," the English man grinned.

"Shut up," Jesse said with a hint of a blush.

"Where's Beca?"

"Sleeping. Are you coming tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Luke said, looking around the apartment. His eyes fell on Jesse's art project and he walked over to it, eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell is this?"

"Um," Jesse said. "A collage?"

"Why are you and Beca in a magazine? In multiple magazines?"

"Because I may or may not have a thing with Chloe Beale," a bleary eyed Beca emerged from her room, pillow lines creasing her face. "Hi."

"Chloe Beale?" Luke raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "The Chloe Beale? _This_ Chloe Beale?"

He held up a magazine and pointed to Chloe's face in the top right corner. Beca nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Bullshit."

"It's true," Jesse said, gesturing to the pictures of Chloe and Beca on the refrigerator. "We met her at her CD signing and it kind of snowballed from there."

"Holy shit," Luke sat down at the table and looked at Beca. "You're dating Chloe Beale."

"Uh huh."

"I'll be damned. Good for you," he grinned. He then took in the fridge, the magazines, and Jesse's unfinished collage before turning back to the other boy. "And you're what, making a project of it?"

"I'm documenting," he sniffed. "See, this part of the cardboard is the beginning, so it's like a timeline."

"How very "Single White Female" of you," Luke said.

"Yeah, well, we can't all be Hugh Grant in the movie of life," Jesse grumbled under his breath as he gathered up his collage.

"Don't you find that a bit creepy?" Luke asked Beca.

"If it were anyone but him, yeah, probably," she sighed. "But he's a weirdo, so I just let it slide."

"Hey!"

"You're coming later?" She asked, standing and opening the fridge.

"Yeah," Luke leaned back in his chair, taking the bottle of water Beca offered him. "I was around and thought I'd stop by and check on Jesse's car again, just to make sure it was running okay."

"It's been great," Jesse grabbed a water. "Thanks for taking a look at it."

"Sure," Luke said, giving him a stern look. "But forget to change the oil again and the next time it won't be on the house."

"Got it."

"Speaking of," Beca said, popping the tab on an energy drink. "Can we drive tonight instead of walking?"

"Sure," Jesse shrugged, taking a sip of water. "Why?"

"Chloe's coming, and if there are paparazzi again, I want to be able to get away and not walk them back here."

"Oh. Good idea."

"Chloe's coming?" Luke asked. "Will I get to meet her?"

"Probably," Beca shrugged.

"Are you nervous?"

"No."

Luke and Jesse both shot her a look.

"I'm not!"

Luke and Jesse looked at each other, and then back at her.

"Maybe."

Luke raised his eyebrows, and Jesse crossed his arms.

"Okay, yes, I'm a little nervous, are you both happy?"

"Tickled pink," Luke said.

"Delighted," Jesse replied.

"You're both assholes," Beca shook her head at the two of them and downed the rest of her energy drink.

"Oh really?" Luke said, exchanging a look with Jesse.

"Don't," Beca said, backing away as the two boys advanced on her with matching evil grins. "Don't you fucking dare."

"What's the matter, Bec?" Jesse said. "You're not... ticklish, are you?"

"I swear to God I'll kill you both," she said, backed into a corner.

Luke shrugged and looked at the other boy. "Seems worth it to me."

Jesse nodded, and with that, they attacked, causing Beca to burst into uncontrollable giggles as she tried to squirm away from them. She slid to the floor, unable to stop herself from convulsing with laughter. The tickle fight continued until Beca cried uncle, out of breath and pink-cheeked.

"You two," she said between breaths, glaring up at them. "Are grown ass men."

"So?" Jesse said, extending a hand and helping her up.

"Act like it," she rolled her eyes.

"What's the fun in that?"

* * *

An hour and a half later, a black clad Chloe and Aubrey entered the club, Aubrey wincing at the thump of the bass and flash of the lights. Chloe grinned, enjoying seeing her best friend out of her element for once, and led her to the bar by the hand.

"Two vodka cranberries please," Chloe smiled at the bartender.

"And two Jack and Cokes," Jesse said, placing several bills on the counter. "Hi!"

"Hi yourself," Chloe said over the music. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's fine," he shrugged. "You're our guests tonight."

"Where's Beca?" Aubrey asked as the bartender handed them their drinks and Jesse's change.

"Getting ready," Jesse said, taking the two rum and Cokes and gesturing for them to follow him with a jerk of his head. "She's up next."

"Isn't it kind of early?"

"She's not the headliner," he explained. "More of an opening act until she can get more established."

They arrived at a table, joining Luke as they sat down.

"Thanks," Luke said, taking his drink from Jesse. He extended his hand to Aubrey and Chloe. "I'm Luke. I'm a friend of Beca's."

"Hi, I'm Chloe," she smiled.

"Aubrey. Nice to meet you."

"Charmed," Luke said, raising his glass to her. She smiled at him, and raised her own glass back.

At that moment, the song that had been playing cut off and an announcer's voice boomed out over the relatively crowded club, backed by mechanical sounding effects on top of a building beat.

"Attention. Attention. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing..." said a male voice.

There were more mechanical sound effects, and then a cool, robotic female voice said, "Beca Mitchell."

Beca stepped up to the DJ platform to cheers from the regular crowd, giving a wave and a smirk before turning her attention to the dials and switches in front of her. The beat pulsed stronger, and the vocals came in, causing Chloe to smile widely when she recognized The Wanted's "Glad You Came" over the continuously building beat. The lights flashed in synchronization with the kick of the bass, and at the drop, the dance floor became an explosion of movement. Chloe watched in awe as Beca effortlessly commanded the room, in her element and looking the happiest she'd ever seen her.

"She's good," Chloe shouted over the music. Jesse and Luke sat back as the two girls watched their best friend do her thing, remembering the first time they'd heard what Beca could do.

* * *

"That was...," the automated female voice whirred. "Beca Mitchell."

Beca finished her set to the cheers of the now packed club, looking exhausted but happy. She gave a wave and disappeared from the booth, letting the house DJ take over. A new song started, the bass pumping up the crowd as the DJ shouted into the microphone.

"Alright everyone, let me hear some noise," the DJ paused, letting the crowd scream. "Now, we have a very special guest in house tonight. Someone you might have all heard of, or at least heard from once or twice on the radio."

"Oh no," Chloe murmured, shooting a panicked look at Aubrey, who quickly began scanning the room for escape routes.

The DJ continued. "Here tonight, our guest of honor... Miss Shannon Kale of Drive Records!"

Chloe let out a sigh of relief as a spotlight found the annoyed looking record executive.

"So remember, if you like what you hear tonight, go on over and tell Shannon that you really enjoyed BUMPER's set, and you'd like to hear more of DJ BUMPER. Alright, let's "BUMP IT UP!""

Aubrey wrinkled her nose at the obnoxious self-promotion and relaxed in her seat. It was then that Beca reappeared, rolling her eyes but looking happy to see Chloe and Aubrey.

"Hey," she grinned, standing next to Luke. "Thanks for coming."

"You were great," Chloe smiled, causing the shorter girl to try to hide her proud beam.

"Thanks," she shot a crooked smile at all of them, bouncing slightly on her feet. "Ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the gang carried a case of beer and some limes to the small pool next to Beca and Jesse's building, Beca going barefoot and Chloe carrying her own shoes.

"If you get tetanus, you are not allowed to sue me," Aubrey told her, pursing her lips. "And I get to say "I told you so" as much as I want."

"Don't be such a worrywart," she rolled her eyes. "So, what are we doing here?"

"It's a tradition," Jesse explained, setting the beer on a plastic table next to the pool. "After every set, me and Beca and whoever's with us come here and have a drink."

"And," Luke said drily, beginning to slice the limes with his pocketknife. "Someone usually ends up in the pool."

"Why?" Aubrey frowned.

"To which part?"

"All of it."

"We come here because this is kind of my place," Beca revealed, taking a swig of beer. "I come here to clear my head, and I need to unwind after every set. Somebody ends up in the pool because we get bored. Or drunk. Or both."

"Let's get in," Chloe said, sipping her own drink.

"Right now?" Beca asked.

"Sure," Chloe shrugged, setting her bottle down.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Aubrey said nervously.

"Oh, come on," Jesse bumped her shoulder with his.

"I don't know," Beca said, walking over to the pool's edge and leaning down to dip her foot in. "It's kind of co- _Shit!_"

Chloe reached out and gave Beca a one-handed push, sending her toppling into the pool with a splash, beer bottle and all. She resurfaced to the sound of Luke and Jesse's roaring laughter, Aubrey's restrained snickering, and Chloe's innocent grin. She spit out a mouthful of water, looking up at the redhead in shock.

"Nice one, red," Luke said between chuckles, giving her a high five.

"Jesus," Beca said, placing her now chlorinated bottle on the concrete wall and wiping the makeup from under her eyes. She turned to Chloe, who still wore a look of innocence. "At least help me out of here."

"Don't do it!" Jesse cried, but it was too late. Chloe extended her hand to Beca, who took it and yanked, hard, pulling Chloe into the cold water. The redhead surfaced, laughing and sputtering. Aubrey simply rolled her eyes and turned to Luke, asking him how long he'd lived in the States.

"Okay, I deserved that."

"Yeah, you did," Beca said, reaching up and using her thumb to wipe away Chloe's running eye makeup, ignoring the others chatting behind them.

"You really were great tonight," Chloe said quietly.

"You mean it?" Beca asked shyly, biting her lip. Chloe nodded, and Beca pulled her in close for a lingering kiss, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and holding her close. Chloe broke the kiss, resting her forehead against Beca's. The moment was broken by a slice of lime hitting Beca on the cheek, falling into the pool with a small splash.

"No PDA in the pool," Luke said, propping his feet up on a plastic chair.

Beca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

She moved to get out, but Chloe stopped her with a hand on her wrist, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Not only were you great," she breathed, lips grazing Beca's earlobe. "But it was kinda hot too."

She stepped back and winked, then pulled herself out of the pool. Beca swallowed and tried not to notice how Chloe's wet clothes clung to her, suddenly grateful for the coldness of the water.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So I wrote this chapter while watching Criminal Minds, and it was a really strange experience to write fluff while watching someone's knee get taken out by a psychopath with a hammer. Special thanks as always to Liz for beta-ing and fangirling with me. The song used in this chapter is ****_Bye Bye Bye (Six Toed Cadaver Remix)_**** by GuitarIntheMourning on YouTube. Finally, I'll be out of town some this weekend, so the next chapter might come slightly later than the usual pattern. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Chloe sighed deeply, flipping the page on her script and highlighting a line. Taking advantage of a rare rainy day off, she'd bundled up in sweats and settled in for a long day of memorizing lines for the new movie she was due to start later in the week. She frowned down at the page, tapping the highlighter against her bottom lip before sneaking a glance at the couch opposite her squashy armchair. Across Chloe's living room, Beca and her laptop were wedged into the arm of the couch, bulky headphones covering her ears and fingers tapping gently to the beat. She paused for a moment, head tilted in concentration, then tapped a few keys, rain lashing against the window behind her. It had been two weeks since Chloe had seen her spin, and she found it fascinating to see the master at work. She'd called the younger girl earlier in the morning, begging her to come over and keep her company while she memorized, and Beca had grudgingly agreed to leave the warmth of her bed and come over. Chloe watched her, smiling unconsciously when the other girl wrinkled her nose in distaste at whatever effect she'd created. It was nice, seeing Beca curled up on her couch, comfortable in her home. It was definitely a sight she could get used to.

"You're staring," Beca said without looking up from her screen, pulling one earphone away from her head.

Chloe just grinned. "So?"

"You're supposed to be memorizing."

"I am."

At this, Beca looked up. "Cute. Now learn your lines."

"But I don't wanna," Chloe said, standing and crossing the room to flop down next to her and curl into her side. Beca blinked down at her. "What're you working on?"

Beca rolled her eyes, fighting a smile as she placed her headphones around her neck. "If you get in trouble for not knowing your lines, don't blame me."

"You sound like Aubrey."

"Yeah, well, she may have left me a threatening voicemail about you knowing your lines or she'd cut the cord to my headphones," Beca turned back to her laptop, absentmindedly brushing back loose strands of Chloe's hair that had fallen from her messy bun. "So study."

"I'm allowed to take breaks," she said, shooting Beca her best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, ten minutes."

"No."

Chloe pouted.

"Fine," she caved, causing Chloe to beam.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm trying to figure out if this mix would work or not," she frowned, chewing at her lip. "Paranoia's doing a Throwback Thursday or something, and asked for 90s themed mixes."

"Can I listen?"

Beca hesitated. "Not yet. I want it to be finished."

Chloe sighed deeply, bringing back the pout. "Okay. But I saw Bye Bye Bye on your screen and I'm just letting you know that's one of my favorites so..."

Beca resisted for a whole thirteen seconds before giving in. "Fine. Here."

She unplugged her headphones and cued the track. Familiar violins swelled, accompanied by a new, unfamiliar beat. Justin Timberlake's much younger voice soared over the now heavier bass, causing Chloe to smile and start to sing along. Beca closed her eyes and listened, concentrating on the sound of Chloe's voice working with the boy band's. The track ended with one final beat, and then the room was quiet again.

"I think it would work," Chloe shrugged. She sat up, untangling herself from Beca, and stood. "Come on. You're taking a break too."

"Where are we going?" Beca asked warily, closing her laptop.

"Just come on," Chloe rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Ta da!"

"Is that a bed?"

"No," Chloe said, closing the door to the screened porch behind her. "It's a swing."

"It has a mattress."

"It's a big swing."

Beca raised an eyebrow. "You know, this is probably one of the more creative ways someone's tried to get me into bed."

Chloe rolled her eyes and dragged Beca by the hand. "Shut up and come cuddle with me."

"I don't know if you've noticed or anything, but I'm not exactly a cuddler."

"We'll work on it."

The two girls settled into the swing-bed, listening to the rain hitting the roof and the low hum of the ceiling fan. Beca absently traced patterns on the back of Chloe's hand, feeling herself relax into the rhythm of Chloe's breathing. Just as she started feeling herself getting drowsy, Chloe broke the silence.

"So what was the most creative way someone tried to get you into bed?"

Beca laughed, turning to face the redhead. "Is this your subtle way of asking about my exes?"

"No! Maybe," she gave a rare blush. "I'm just saying, we've been doing this thing that we're doing for about a month, and I feel like there's a lot I don't know about you."

"Okay," Beca said, confused. "What do you wanna know?"

"How about this," Chloe propped herself up on an elbow, looking down at Beca. "We play twenty questions, and you're allowed three passes. If you go over three, you have to do a dare."

Beca stared at her. "This is why I didn't have female friends in high school."

"Very funny. Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Fine," she sighed. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"I'll start," Chloe said with a pleased smile. "What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color? Jesus, you're brutal."

"I'm working my way up. Answer the question."

"Uh, purple, I guess. Is it my turn?" At Chloe's nod, she continued. "Hm. What was your favorite TV show as a kid?"

"Catdog."

Beca laughed. "Really?"

"Yes!" Chloe said. "Okay... What is the biggest trouble you've ever been in?"

Beca mumbled something unintelligible.

"Was that English?"

"I may have been arrested when I was seventeen," Beca admitted, face flaming.

"For what? Is that why you have tattoos? Were you in a prison gang? Am I dating a felon?"

"You know, you should give stand up a try, you're really good."

"I'm just kidding," Chloe snuggled into Beca's side and looked up at her with a grin. "What'd you get arrested for?"

"Trespassing," she said vaguely.

"Trespassing where?"

"Oregon."

"Becaaaaa."

"Ugh, fine, it was the beginning of senior year of high school and a bunch of us went up to this pond that _apparently_ was on private property and we might have gone skinny dipping and the owner of said property called the cops and it was really, really embarrassing and a cop saw me naked, so yeah, there, now you know."

Chloe stared up at Beca for a long minute before giving in and bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Tears ran down her face and she rolled over onto her back, a fresh wave of giggles breaking over her every time she glanced back at Beca.

"Oh yeah, laugh it up, sure, it's hilarious, I know."

"I'm sorry," Chloe rolled back over, out of breath and wiping tears from her eyes.

"No you're not."

"No, I'm really not," she agreed, setting herself off again. "Okay, your turn."

"How do I even follow that? Uh... First kiss?"

"Oh, it was awful," Chloe shuddered. "It was in middle school, when I still lived in Miami. The school I went to had this fundraiser thing, and it was like a big deal to kiss there because there was no supervision."

"So what happened?"

"I went around the back of the gym with my boyfriend at the time," she said. "Two of my friends came as witnesses and to make sure we did it. We were both so nervous, and we were stalling, and one of my friends really had to pee, and kept telling us to just get it over with. By the time we finally kissed, we'd taken too long and my friend peed in her pants and my mom had to take us home early."

"She pissed herself?" Beca's tone was a mixture of intrigue and disgust. "How old were you?"

"Twelve or thirteen."

"That's really fucking gross."

"Yep," Chloe nodded. "And everyone found out. Someone superglued a diaper to her locker."

"Okay, that's funny."

"And mean."

"Well, yeah."

"My turn," Chloe said. "Tell me about your first kiss."

"Jesse," Beca shrugged.

"What?"

"Spin the bottle, seventh grade, Jesse's treehouse after school," she rattled off. "It was us and a handful of other kids in our class that lived close by. He spun, it landed on me, we kissed, it was weird for a few days, and then things went back to normal."

"Has he ever had a crush on you?"

"For like, a minute in tenth grade."

"What happened?"

"He met the foreign exchange student," Beca smiled. "I think that was an extra question, so now I get two."

"For someone who didn't want to play, you're pretty invested in this," Chloe teased.

"Just trying to uphold the integrity of the rules," Beca sniffed. "Okay, best birthday you've ever had?"

"When I turned 21, Aubrey and my mom and my friend Stacie surprised me and flew me to Orlando. We went to Epcot and ordered a drink in every country and drank around the world."

"That sounds... ambitious."

"Oh Aubrey puked the whole way back to the hotel," Chloe wrinkled her nose. "But it was fun."

They sat in comfortable silence, listening to the rain dripping off of the roof. The muffled sound of a phone ringing from inside broke through their little bubble, causing Beca to groan.

"It's mine," she said, moving to get up.

Chloe pulled her back, holding on to her waist firmly. "Stay."

"It might be important," Beca said bemusedly. A second ringing sound started up. "And there goes yours.

"They'll leave a message," she said, nuzzling into Beca's neck.

"You need to go learn your lines anyway..."

"Lines are boring," Chloe tilted her head up to whisper in Beca's ear. "Stay with me."

Beca could feel her heart begin to race, only a little annoyed that Chloe had found her weak spot. She turned her head and met the redhead's gaze, smirking slightly. They sat motionless, inches from each other's faces and a challenge in Chloe's eyes, electricity crackling between them before Beca captured the redhead's lips with her own and pushed her back gently. One of Chloe's hands reached up and wound itself in Beca's hair, holding her close as the brunette began placing kisses down her jawline.

"See?" Chloe said, slightly breathless. Beca pulled back, confused. "Much more fun than learning lines."

Beca just rolled her eyes and kissed her again.

* * *

Two hours later, when Aubrey had given up on trying to call Chloe and had driven to her house, she found the two girls on the back porch, fast asleep. Chloe was wrapped around Beca's smaller frame, the fabric of Beca's shirt collar held loosely in her hand. The brunette had one arm around Chloe and a small smile on her sleeping face. Aubrey sighed, letting go of whatever aggravation she'd had towards her friend. She snapped a picture with her phone and sent it to Chloe's, hearing it beep from inside. Beca stirred but didn't wake, tightening her grip on Chloe. Aubrey shook her head and draped a blanket over them, then quietly shut the door behind her as she left them to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry for the small delay with this chapter! I was out of town for most of the weekend, and I needed a little time to recuperate. Anyway, muchos gracias to Liz for beta-ing in the midst of the Doctor Who brouhaha (Who-haha?) and being as fabulous as always. Thanks to everyone for their patience, and thank you all for reading!**

* * *

Beca awoke about an hour later, thunder rumbling overhead. She looked around the empty porch, realizing that she'd been left alone. Lightening flashed, and another crack of thunder caused her to jump violently, breaking through what was left of her drowsy daze. She stretched, joints cracking, then wrapped herself up in the blanket and hurried inside, making sure to shut the door tightly behind her.

Another round of thunder shook the house as she found her way back to the living room, finding Chloe sitting cross-legged on the couch, script in hand and a look of deep concentration on her face. She looked up as Beca shuffled over to the couch and curled up next to her.

"You know," Beca said, voice still rough from sleep. "That's also one of the most creative ways someone's left me in bed."

"Oh really?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I can't imagine someone would leave you in bed."

"Trust me," Beca said with a sardonic grin. "It's happened."

"Wow. Their loss."

"Right?" She grinned, causing Chloe to roll her eyes. "Have you seen my phone?"

"By your computer."

Beca stood, still wrapped in the blanket, and shuffled over to where her computer lay on the floor on the other side of Chloe. Her phone sat on top of her closed laptop, leaning against her headphones, and a pair of scissors sat across the top.

"What's this?" She asked, holding up the scissors.

"Oh," Chloe said with a laugh. "Aubrey stopped by. I think that's her way of reminding you about not distracting me."

"Duly noted," Beca set the scissors to the side and picked up her phone. "Shit. I need to call the club."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just have like, thirteen missed calls. I'll be right back."

She walked towards the back of the house with the phone pressed to her ear, running a hand through her hair. She stopped once she reached the kitchen, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. After two more rings, the call was picked up.

"Mitch the Bitch," a raspy female voice laughed into Beca's ear. "What's good? I've been trying to get ahold of you all morning."

"Hey," Beca laughed at her boss. "Sorry, I wasn't by my phone. What's up?"

"Listen, can you come in for a meeting around two o clock today? There are some things I need to talk over with you."

"Uh, sure," Beca frowned, checking the time on the oven clock. "Should I be like, worried?"

"Nah," the woman said. "Just some things we need to discuss. Look, I gotta go, Bumper's about to bust down my door. See you at two."

"See you then," Beca said, but her boss had already hung up. She frowned down at her phone, biting her lip contemplatively as another rumble of thunder sounded. After tapping out a quick text to Jesse and Luke, she walked back to where Chloe was laying flat on her back, script held above her face.

"Hey," Chloe said, dropping her highlighter so that it bounced against her chin. "Ow. Everything okay?"

"I don't know," Beca sat on the arm of the chair across from her. "It was my boss. She wants me to come in for a meeting at two."

"About what?" Chloe sat up, looking concerned.

"She didn't say."

"Well," she hedged, looking down at her knees. "It might be about this."

Chloe pulled a magazine from the coffee table next to her and opened it up to a page bookmarked by a sticky note. On one side of the spread was a full-sized picture of Beca and Chloe leaving a restaurant, holding hands and smiling at each other, with a small inset of Chloe kissing Beca on the cheek. The other side contained a small article and a giant headline that read "CHLOE'S MYSTERY GIRL REVEALED."

"What is that?" Beca said quietly. Chloe just handed her the magazine, and Beca read silently.

_The town has been buzzing with talk of Chloe Beale's new girlfriend, and only we here at Spotted! have the scoop. The mystery lady is none other than Portland, Oregon native and up and coming DJ/ producer Beca Mitchell (21), the opening act for new hotspot Paranoia. Fellow DJ Bumper Allen confirms that the two have been an item for about a month: "Oh yeah, Chloe's been hanging around Paranoia just to watch Beca spin before my set. With both me and Chloe being there, the club has been packed almost every night." Since breaking things off with Tom Delaney in January, the Baby It's You singer (23) has not been linked to any other romantic prospects. A source close to Beale says, "Chloe is the happiest she's been in a long time. Beca is really good for her. She's finally moving on." _

"Oh my God," Beca said slowly, absorbing what she'd just read. She examined the pictures closely. "When were these taken?"

"I don't know," Chloe said in a small voice.

"Holy... This is real. Okay. They know my name now," she processed. "And where I work. And how old I am. Cool. Okay."

"Are you okay?" She asked in the same small voice.

Beca thought for a minute. "... Yeah. Yeah. It just kind of, you know, all became real."

"I'd understand if you... you know, wanted to maybe slow it down or just kinda cool it for a little bit," Chloe stared down at the carpet, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I wouldn't blame you."

"Why the fuck would I want to do that?" Beca's tone surprised the redhead, causing her to look up. Beca moved and sat next to her, looking serious. "Chloe, I don't know if you noticed, but I kinda really like you, and not just because you're like, famous or whatever. Yeah, this is really weird and it makes me uncomfortable, and I'm probably going to have to call my dad since he has Google Alerts on me sent to his phone just in case I make it big one day and don't tell him, but I knew what I was signing up for when we started this thing. I'm a big girl, Chlo'. I can handle this."

"Are you sure? It can get kind of overwhelming, and I don't want to put you through anything that-"

"I'm sure," Beca said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to. Okay?"

"Okay," Chloe beamed.

"But I do have to go to my meeting," she said sheepishly.

Chloe laughed. "Go. And thanks for... just, thanks."

Beca just pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Anytime."

* * *

Bumper sat outside of an office door in the Paranoia's dimly lit back hallway, concentrating hard on his phone. The only sounds that could be heard were the buzz of the fluorescent lights and the occasional swear word from Bumper, the club mostly empty during the day. A man pushing a mop and bucket squeaked by, maneuvering his bucket around the DJ's outstretched legs. Once the man was gone, silence returned.

"Hey Bumper."

The man jumped, his phone clattering to the floor. "Shit, Beca, I was just about to beat my high score."

He reached for the phone, but Beca stopped him, sliding his phone towards her with a Converse. "Hm. Too bad."

"Give me my phone back," he whined, holding out his hand.

"I will," she said, entering the phone's settings. "But I want to ask you something first. How much did you get paid to sell me out?"

"What are you talking about?" Beads of sweat popped on his forehead.

"You know," Beca tapped at the phone. "You really should have a passcode set up, just in case something were to... happen to your phone."

"What are you doing?" He stood, grabbing at the phone. "Give that back."

"Here," she tossed him the phone, pressing the lock button as she did so. "I set one up for you. You have ten tries to figure out, or all of your data will be erased. You're welcome."

"You're such a fucking bitch," Bumper growled.

"You're damn right," Beca said, taking a step towards him. He stumbled back slightly, backing into the row of chairs he'd been previously occupying. "If you ever talk about me to the tabloids ever again, I will erase a lot more than your phone. Got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," he said with a smirk. "You're just pissed because your little fuckbuddy and I both have better careers than you, and I exposed that."

She turned and knocked on the office door, hearing a muffled "Come in" from the other side.

"If you think I give a shit about you, you're a bigger moron than I thought," she said cooly, ignoring the dig about Chloe with a massive force of willpower. "So fuck off back to Idaho or whatever rock you crawled out from under and mind your own business."

"I'm from Aspen."

"I don't care," Beca turned the doorknob and stepped inside the office, leaving Bumper to fume alone in the hallway.

As Beca shut the door, her boss, an African-American woman with pink streaked through her hair, held up one finger as she wrapped up a phone call. The nameplate on her desk read Cynthia Rose Davidson, and pictures of the woman and several children were placed around the desk. A man, barely more than a kid, really, sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, giving Beca an awkward smile as she sat down next to him.

"Okay, I'll see you soon," the woman said, hanging up the phone. She turned to Beca. "Mitchell, thanks for coming in."

"Sure," Beca swallowed nervously. "What's up?"

"Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"If this is about the magazine or the Chloe thing, I swear that I had no idea Bumper was going to talk to them and I really don't want this to affect my job because it's not going to affect my performance or anything and I even worked on stuff today and-"

Cynthia Rose laughed, cutting Beca off mid-ramble. "Relax, kid. I've known about the Chloe thing for a while."

"You have?"

"Sure. You think a celebrity comes to my club and leaves with one of my staff and I don't hear about it?"

"Oh," Beca sat back.

"But that's not why I called you in. Well, not completely anyway. Beca Mitchell, this is Benjamin Applebaum," she gestured to the young man. "He works for my wife's law firm, and I called him in for a favor."

"Call me Benji," he said, shaking a very confused Beca's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she said. "Uh, no offense or anything, but why are you here?"

"Have you ever heard of Drive Records?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Cynthia Rose leaned forward, grinning. "Someone got a call."

"What?" Beca said, heart jumping into her throat.

"Yeah, kid. Shannon Kale was here a couple of weeks ago and saw you spin. She sent in a couple more people last week, and called us yesterday to try and get ahold of you. They're looking for new talent, and you caught their eye."

"Holy shit," Beca fell back in her chair, thoughts racing.

"Exactly," Cynthia Rose continued. "Since your situation is pretty unique, what with the "Chloe thing" and all, I figured I'd call in Benji here just to make sure your best interests were protected. I think you've got it, kid, and I think you've got the cojones to make it happen, but I want to make sure you don't get sharked. You're too good to be shelved, and I won't let that happen."

"I don't...," Beca was nearly speechless. "Thank you."

"No problem. Just remember me when you make it big, alright? And you still have to show up for work until you get signed officially, got it?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Good. Now, I have to go deal with Bumper's bar tab, but Benji here will walk you through what you need to do. Catch ya later."

"Bye," Beca said, stunned.

"Congratulations," Benji said with a smile, pulling a briefcase onto his lap as the door clicked shut behind him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled, pushing a hand through her hair. "I've just had a hell of a day."

"You might want to get used to that," he said with a small laugh. "You ready to get started?"

"Let's do it."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I sent this chapter to Liz and then disappeared from all social media because I was so unsure/ embarrassed about it. Thanks as always to Liz for telling me I was being a little shit and for beta-ing! To everyone going back to school, good luck, and I feel your pain. I hope this school year goes well for everyone, and thank you all for reading!**

* * *

When Beca finally emerged from her meeting with Benji, punctuated with a call in to Aubrey for additional help, she was exhausted. At the recommendation of the young lawyer and publicist duo, Beca had deleted all of her social media accounts, leaving only her professional pages and website, and had been through what felt like eight thousand pages of legalese. Benji and Aubrey, for their parts, had been patient and understanding, walking her through the tedious processes of image shaping and explaining the various ways Beca could still maintain a small amount of privacy.

By the time she left the club, it was early evening and her stomach was grumbling angrily. The morning's storm had rolled out, leaving pink streaked clouds and a light breeze behind. Checking her phone for the first time since she'd entered Cynthia Rose's office, Beca saw that she had over a hundred missed calls, texts, and voicemails. Most of them, she noticed, were from unknown numbers, some from Jesse and Luke, a few from Chloe, and a smattering were from various friends and acquaintances. She dialed her voicemail as she walked to her car, grinning when she heard Jesse and Luke's joint message.

"Beca, it's Luke."

"And Jesse!"

"So _Sleeping With the Enemy_ here was buying more tabloids this morning-"

"Hey!"

"And I don't know if you've seen Spotted! lately, but you're in it and they know your name, so this is just a heads up. Call me."

Beca deleted the message as she climbed into the car and let the next one play.

"... Beca, it's War- Dad. I um, got an alert thing about you on my phone, something about you and someone named Chloe? Anyway, I just wanted to call and check in. I, uh, I hope to hear from you soon. Bye now."

She bit her lip, staring at the phone in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she found her father's contact and pressed call. After six rings, Beca nearly gave up, but the call was answered.

"Warren Mitchell."

"Uh, hi."

"Beca?"

She exhaled. "Yeah."

"How are you?"

"Fine."

"And how's Jesse?"

"He's fine too."

"Good," Warren paused. "Good... So what was that alert thing about?"

"Uh," Beca closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "You know that singer, Chloe Beale? She was in those movies?"

"Um..."

"Red hair."

"Oh. Yes."

"Well, I'm kinda dating her."

"You are?"

"That's what I said."

"Huh. So, the alert was..."

"The magazines just now figured out who I was."

"Oh. Well," he said. "Is she good to you?"

"Yeah," she gave a small smile.

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope it stays that way. Anything else going on with you?"

"Um," she said, tapping out a rhythm on the center console. "Well, I-"

"Shoot, Beca, I'm really sorry, but I've got to run," Warren interrupted, what sounded like papers shuffling in the background. "Can I call you back later?"

Beca sighed, forcing down a swell of disappointment. "Yeah. Sure."

"I'm really sorry, it's just I have this meeting and I'm running late, and I'm supposed to pick up dinner-"

"It's fine. I'll just," she cleared her throat, angry tears pricking her eyes. "We'll talk later."

"Okay. Bye, Beca. Love you."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and pressed the heels of her hands against her closed eyes, taking deep breaths. As strained as her relationship with Warren Mitchell was, it still stung every time he placed work before her. It'd been that way since she was a kid, but it was something she'd never quite grown used to. The sound of her phone buzzing with a text broke the silence of the car, Jesse's name flashing across the screen.

_Come to the pool when you get home. Luke's grilling._

She sent back the letter "K," knowing it would get under the boy's skin. Buckling her seatbelt, she pulled out of the parking lot and set out on her way.

* * *

At the pool, a small crowd of Beca, Luke, and Jesse's friends milled about, drinking beer and laughing with each other while Luke started up the grill. Jesse carried a case of beer to the cooler, setting it down on the picnic table with a pout on his face.

"I don't understand why you won't let me run the grill," he grumbled, loading the cooler.

"Because," Luke raised an eyebrow. "Last time you did, the hamburgers looked like hockey pucks and my cremated aunt had more substance than the hot dogs."

Jesse sighed, collapsing the cardboard box. "That was an accident."

"Yes. One that will never happen again."

"Fine. Did Beca text me back?"

"Yeah," Luke handed him his phone. "She said "K.""

"Seriously?" Jesse groaned. Luke just grinned.

Twenty minutes later, Beca finally arrived, bearing a bag of limes and a large bag of ice. After saying hi to her various friends, she handed the ice off to Jesse and tossed Luke the limes.

"How much longer on the food?" She asked, sitting on the table and opening a bottle of beer.

"Oh, I had a wonderful day, thank you for asking," Luke said, flipping the burgers over. "I went to work, had a really great lunch, got to speak to the pretty girl who works in the office, found a dollar in my pocket, and, oh yeah, my best friend was identified in a tabloid. How was yours?"

"Not now, okay?" She said quietly. He looked over at Jesse and nodded towards her, turning his attention back to the grill.

"Everything okay?" Jesse asked, plopping down next to her on the table.

"Yeah," she said, giving an unconvincing smile. "I just talked to my dad, that's all. It's been a weird day."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay," he said with a shrug. "But when you do, I'd be more than happy to pay off some kid in Atlanta to egg his house. I have a cousin who lives there who'd be thrilled to help a good cause."

"Thanks," Beca gave a real smile, bumping her shoulder against his. "So I got some good news today."

"Oh yeah?"

"Drive Records called the club," she said, unable to control her smile. "They're interested in signing me."

"No fucking way," Luke said with an excited smile.

"Yes fucking way," Beca grinned back, laughing when the two boys crushed her in a group hug. "Guys, I can't breathe!"

"Congratulations, Bec," Jesse released her with a proud smile. "That's awesome news!"

"Thanks," she said, ducking her head shyly. "But I can't really talk about it yet, because nothing's official."

"When will you know?" Luke asked, going back to the grill.

"I'm not sure. I have a meeting with them next week, so we'll see. They might not even sign me, Cynthia Rose just said they were interested."

"If they know what's good for them, they'll sign you," Chloe said, walking up with Aubrey and a case of beer in tow. She set the beer down and kissed Beca on the cheek. "Hi. Congratulations!"

"Thanks," she said, her smile a little wider.

"Hey guys," Jesse said, offering them both a cold beer.

"Hi," Aubrey said, taking the proffered bottle. "Beca, I'm sorry Chloe couldn't find out from you. She was in my office when we hung up, and she just weaseled it out of me."

"It's fine," Beca shrugged, finishing her beer.

"Wait, Chloe and Aubrey knew before we did?" Luke feigned hurt, pointing the grill spatula between them. "Rebecca Mitchell I am crushed."

"Call me Rebecca one more time and I will crush you for real," she said, taking another beer from Jesse. "The lawyer guy that Cynthia Rose set me up with asked if I had any representation, so I called Aubrey."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I get that you like them better than us," Luke turned his nose up, causing Chloe to giggle. "I mean, why tell your oldest best friends important things, it makes very little sense."

"Luke," Beca said, surveying him over her beer bottle. "When I make it big, I will personally pay for your sex change operation so you can finally be the girl you are inside."

"Aw, thanks Becky," he said.

"Or I could just do it now free of charge," she glared. "Your choice."

At the look on Beca's face, the group burst into laughter, causing her to grudgingly crack up with them.

* * *

After a few more hours of drinking, eating, and hanging out, everyone but Aubrey and Chloe had said their goodbyes and left, leaving a small mess for the remaining five to clean up. Aubrey waved off Beca, Luke, and Jesse's insistence that she and Chloe leave the mess to them, the two girls helping to pick up empty bottles, paper plates, and the occasional discarded lime. Throwing the last beer bottle in her area into a trash bag, Chloe sat down on a folding chair, watching as Aubrey shook her head at the boys' bickering. They'd taken the two girls into their fold with ease, as if they'd all been friends forever. It was a refreshing change for Chloe. For the first time in a long time, she felt normal.

"Chlo'!" Beca plopped into her lap, causing the redhead to wrap an arm around the smaller girl's waist for balance. "Hi!"

"Hi," Chloe smiled. "I think someone's a little bit drunk."

"I'm not drunk," she shook her head. "I'm cheerful."

"Oh, okay," Chloe nodded, brushing Beca's hair back from her face.

"It's true," she nodded. "Wanna know a secret?"

"I'd love to."

"Okay," Beca looked very seriously at a space slightly to the left of Chloe's face. "I think you're beautiful."

"Oh really?" Chloe said with raised eyebrows, heart beating fast as Beca nuzzled into her neck.

"Mm hm. Wanna hear another secret?"

"Sure."

"I think," Beca tilted her head up and whispered in Chloe's ear, one hand tracing patterns just under Chloe's shirt. "You should spend the night."

"What if I told you that Aubrey and I had already planned to?"

"Dibs on you as my bed buddy."

"Well, unless you want to cuddle with Aubrey, that was the plan."

"But where's she gonna sleep?"

"On the couch, probably."

"Hey Beca," Luke called from across the pool, holding up her ringing phone. "It's your dad."

"Don't let her answer it," Jesse called out. "She doesn't need to talk to him right now."

"Or ever," she scowled.

"What does that mean?" Chloe asked, confused.

"I'm getting another drink," Beca stood up, wobbling slightly as she walked towards the cooler. Chloe frowned after her.

* * *

Once the pool area was clean and everyone had made their way upstairs, Beca led Chloe to her room, leaving Jesse to play host to Aubrey. Tossing her phone on the bed, Beca sat on the edge of her desk and tugged Chloe close by the belt loops of her jeans. Without so much as a word, Beca pulled her into a fierce kiss, prompting a small noise of surprise. Without breaking apart, Beca managed to peel off her flannel shirt and toss it to the floor, Chloe's fingers tracing over the tattoo that peeked out of the smaller girl's tank top, making her shiver. Beca began working on Chloe's red button down, placing kisses down her neck as more skin was slowly revealed, feeling Chloe's breathing hitch with every brush of fingertips on bare skin. Once the shirt was open, she brushed back a sweep of red hair and lowered her lips to where neck and shoulder met, biting down hard and soothing the sting with her tongue. Chloe let out a stifled moan, bringing Beca's lips back up to her own while one of the brunette's hands explored the flat plane of her stomach, nails scraping lightly. Suddenly, Beca pulled away, looking upset.

"No," she said, pushing herself away slightly. "Not like this."

"What?" Chloe said, dazed out of breath.

"I'm sorry," Beca frowned, burying her face in her hands. "I just, it's not you, ugh, God-"

"Hey," Chloe pulled her hands away from her face. "It's okay. We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"It's not that," she said. "It's not that I don't want to, because _God_ I want to. It's just, I don't want to this way. It's just, I'm kinda drunk and overwhelmed, and I've had a really weird day, and I talked to my dad, and Aubrey and Jesse are here, and so much has happened today and I just want it to be special and mean something because I really, really like you and I don't wanna fuck it up."

"Beca," Chloe pulled her into a hug, Beca's head resting against her collarbone. "We don't have to do anything, okay? If you do or don't want to do this, I'm fine with that. I just want you to be comfortable, okay?"

"Okay," her voice was muffled. "I'm really sorry, Chlo'."

"Shhh," she said, smoothing where her hands had mussed Beca's hair. "Don't apologize."

"Okay. Chloe'?"

"Yeah."

"It's kinda hard to not do anything with my face in your cleavage."

"And she's back," Chloe laughed, stepping away. "Let's just go to sleep, okay?"

The two got ready for bed, Beca climbing in after Chloe was settled. They sat in silence for a moment, curled around each other comfortably.

"Hey Chlo'?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

Chloe pressed a kiss to Beca's temple. "Night, Bec."

"Night."

Beca turned out the light, and all was quiet.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Whew. Thanks as always to Liz.**

* * *

"Wait, so you _didn't_ sleep with her?!"

"Could you say that a little louder, I think there's a guy on aisle ten who couldn't hear you," Beca snapped, blushing under the judgmental glare of the woman with two children further down the aisle.

Jesse followed her with the grocery cart, pushing off from the floor and coasting down the aisle until he was at her side. He tossed a box of Pop-Tarts into the half full cart before he repeated his question in a quieter voice.

"So you didn't sleep with her? Dude, why not? Were you too drunk?"

"That's not exactly a problem for me," Beca said, taking the box of Pop-Tarts and putting it back on the shelf. "Unlike others I could name."

"That was one time," Jesse reached for the Pop-Tarts again, only to have his hand slapped. "And I still don't know how you found out about it."

Beca just smirked and walked away, dragging the cart and subsequently Jesse behind her.

"I don't get it," he said, struggling to catch up. "I mean, you were practically throwing yourself at her and trust me, she did _not_ look like she minded at all, I mean, _damn_-"

She gave him a warning glare.

"Sorry," he grinned innocently. "What I'm saying is that Aubrey and I kind of thought it was a done deal, that's all."

"You and Aubrey discussed whether or not Chloe and I were having sex?" She shook her head, picking up a package of coffee. "Who am I kidding? You have no boundaries, of course you did."

"Not like that. We just, you know, left the apartment for like an hour. To give you two some space."

"Only an hour? You severely underestimate me."

"Beca."

"Jesse."

"Why are you being such a weirdo?"

"I'm being a weirdo? You're the one who just yelled out my sex life for the whole store to hear!"

"More like lack of," he smirked at her, prompting a scowl.

"Watch it," she narrowed her eyes at him as they walked to the next aisle.

"C'mon Bec," he said, throwing a bag of potato chips into the cart. "Just tell me what the deal is."

"No."

"Have you talked to her since then?"

"Not much."

"Why not? It's been two days!"

She gave him an exasperated look, placing a jar of salsa next to the chips. "Why do you care so much? Last time I checked, my sex life was not your business."

"As your lesbro, I care," he said, dodging Beca's fist aimed at his shoulder. "And as just your bro, I'm worried about you."

"You're worried about me because I wouldn't sleep with Chloe?"

"Aha!"

"What?"

"You," he pointed at her triumphantly. "Said "wouldn't" sleep with Chloe, not "didn't." Now we're getting somewhere."

She stared up at him. "I hate you."

"I hate you too. Now spill." He folded his arms and stood in front of the cart, a shit eating grin on his face.

"Fine," she crossed her arms and matched his standoff pose. "We were going to. We wanted to."

"But?"

"But," she sighed, shoulders slumping. "I couldn't do it."

"Because?"

"Because I didn't want it to be that way." At Jesse's puzzled expression, she continued, fiddling with her bracelet to avoid his eyes. "I was drunk and overwhelmed and I'd talked to my dad and it was like how things were when... I really, really like her, Jess. And not because she's Chloe Beale the celebrity, but because she's Chloe Beale who's impossible and talks in her sleep and hates oatmeal and named her dog after that Michael Jackson song and talks to me and makes me feel pretty or whatever and does that thing with her tongue..."

Beca trailed off, eyes glazing over as she stared into thin air.

"Have you told her that?" Jesse asked gently, looking at his best friend as if he'd just discovered something.

"Not in so many words," Beca snapped out of her little daydream, flushing slightly.

"Maybe you should," he said, stepping aside so that she could move the cart forward.

"And say what?" She walked down the aisle, tossing a bag of pretzels in the cart. "'Sorry I didn't sleep with you Chloe, it's because I think I'm falling in'- SHIT."

"I knew it," Jesse nodded, a pleased smile on his face as Beca clapped a hand over her mouth. "You're falling for her. Hard. Admit it, Bec. Everyone saw it coming."

"No," she stopped. "It's only been like, a month."

"So? When you know you know," he shrugged, taking the cart from her and moving forward. He turned to speak again when he realized that he'd left Beca rooted to the spot, looking half exhilarated and half terrified. He sighed and walked back to her, parking the buggy out of the way.

"This is too fast," she sighed, pushing her hands through her hair as she looked up at him. "It's too fast."

"Rebecca Anne Mitchell," Jesse said firmly, holding Beca by the shoulders. "Don't be a pussy."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me. You're falling for Chloe. Who cares if it's fast? I'd be willing to bet that she's falling for you too."

"This isn't a movie, Jess. People like me don't just randomly meet people like Chloe and start a dating thing with them and just mutually start falling for each other in the space of a month. It doesn't work like that."

"Says who?"

"Uh, real life."

"That's bullshit."

"That's realistic."

"No it isn't," Jesse shook his head, closing his eyes in irritation. "Why do you think movies and music are so popular? Because they're the closest thing we have to magic. People meet, they fall in love, they break up, they fight, they make up... All of these human experiences come together to make something beautiful. You have this thing with Chloe, this crazy, ridiculous, beautiful, human thing, and it could be magic. And that's terrifying. But it's worth it."

"How do you know?"

"You have to have faith," he shrugged. "You have to believe in people."

Beca bit her lip, studying Jesse's earnest face before her. "What if I can't do that?"

"Can't, or won't?"

She didn't answer him, instead standing in contemplative silence. Several people pushed shopping carts past them, giving them the occasional odd or disgruntled look. When she finally spoke, it was in a small voice. "What if it breaks my heart?"

"Then we put it back together," Jesse gave her a lopsided smile. "Don't let being scared dictate how you feel about Chloe. It's magic, Beca. Let yourself believe in it."

She took a deep breath, exhaling heavily. "When did you get all deep and transcendental?"

"When did you learn fancy words like "transcendental"?"

"I'm ignoring that," Beca rolled her eyes. "But thank you. And sorry I made you go all Dr. Phil in the middle of aisle twelve."

"Anytime," he pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tightly. "I just love you, you little shit."

"Love you too," she laughed, stepping back. "C'mon."

"Where are we going?"

"To get your damn Pop-Tarts."

"Yesssss."

* * *

Later that night, Beca lay on Chloe's couch, her head resting in the redhead's lap. Chloe absently trailed her fingers through Beca's hair, holding a script with her free hand and frowning at it, lips moving silently as she read. Beca's eyes fluttered shut as Chloe tenderly worked through a tangle, the soft music in the background nearly lulling her to sleep.

"Hey Chlo'?" Beca murmured, eyes still closed.

"Hm?"

"Do you believe in magic?"

Chloe set aside her script and looked down at Beca, who was looking the most relaxed she'd ever seen. "Are you quoting a song or asking me a real question?"

"Both."

"Well," she mulled over the question. "If you're asking whether I believe in spells and witches and stuff like that, no. But I think there are other kinds of magic."

"Like what?" Beca sat up, leaning against the back of the couch.

"Like," Chloe thought for a moment, pulling her legs up so that she was sitting cross-legged. "How a song can take you back to a special moment with someone, or how a smell can remind you of how you and your mom used to make cookies when you were sad, or how the way someone smiles at you can make your heart beat faster. Things like that."

"Don't you think about how there's like, science to explain all of those things though?"

"Well, yeah," Chloe shrugged, taking one of Beca's hands in her own and tracing patterns on the skin. "I know that there's brain chemistry and hormones and stuff involved, I'm not completely naïve. But what makes these things magic is that they're different for everyone. Yeah, the same chemicals and reactions are involved, but when you smell cinnamon, do you think about making ginger snap cookies with my mom? Or does Taylor Swift remind you of a road trip with Aubrey? That's where the magic is, to me. That's what makes it special."

"Huh," Beca said contemplatively, biting her lip in thought.

"What made you ask?"

"Something Jesse said earlier today," she explained. "He was talking about movies and human experience and magic and you and me, and it just made me think."

"About what?"

She paused, staring off into the distance before meeting Chloe's eyes. "Do you think... we could be magic?"

"Beca," Chloe smiled and pulled her into a sweet kiss, feeling her heart pound faster. "I think we already are."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I think I killed Liz. I think I'm dead from that GQ photo. Today's been eventful. **

* * *

Luke's truck pulled up to the front of Drive Records with a very twitchy Beca in the passenger seat. Jesse chattered away in the back, ignoring how Beca's fingers tapped out a complicated beat against her thigh. She swallowed, squinting up at the impossibly large building gleaming in the afternoon sun before them. Luke punched her gently on the shoulder, knocking her out of her reverie.

"Hey," he smiled. "Go get 'em."

She gave a weak smile back, exhaling shakily.

Jesse leaned forward and squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. "Good luck, Bec. We're really proud of you."

"Thanks," she said, taking a moment to collect herself before stepping out of the truck. She gathered her bag, which contained both a flash drive and disc version of a demo she and Aubrey had put together, and closed the door, leaning in through the open window. "I'll call you later. Benji's giving me a ride home."

"You'll do great," Jesse grinned.

"Knock 'em dead," Luke said, putting the car in drive. "Call us if you need anything."

"Will do," Beca saluted, stepping back onto the curb as Luke began pulling away.

"Hey, wait, can I move up?" Jesse leaned forward as the car picked up speed.

"No you may not," was all Beca heard of Luke's reply before they were gone, leaving her to walk in alone. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and walked inside.

After taking the elevator up to the eighth floor, Beca found Benji and Aubrey waiting for her in a modernly furnished lobby, the fluorescent lights harsh against the white couches. They waited for ten minutes, sitting in tense silence that was only interrupted by Aubrey occasionally leaning down to hiss advice into Beca's ear and the clacking of the receptionist's keyboard. Suddenly, the doors opened, and Shannon Kale herself walked into the lobby.

Shannon Kale was easily one of the biggest players in the music business, a powerhouse who'd once had a successful singing career and had moved on to working with artists like Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and even Madonna. Her very presence was intimidating: tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes that, when narrowed, made Beca feel as if the woman could see straight through her. The woman sized her up, taking in the piercings and tattoos with a tilted head and a slight smirk. She extended a hand to Beca.

"Shannon Kale," she said as Beca shook her hand. She moved on to Aubrey and Benji, shaking their hands as well. "You must be Ms. Posen and Mr. Applebaum. Come on in."

She lead them through a winding corridor, passing cubicles and offices until they reached the end of the hall. She held the door open, allowing the three to file into a conference room. An Indian man was already inside, speaking on a cellphone. When he noticed their entrance, he quickly ended the call.

"This is Donald Lahiri," Shannon said, gesturing for everyone to sit. "Donald, this is Beca Mitchell."

"Nice to meet you," Beca said, reaching across the table to shake the bespectacled man's hand.

"Likewise, shorty," he grinned.

"Beca, I'm just going to cut to the chase here," Shannon said, lounging back in her chair. "I like you. I liked what I heard at Paranoia, I think you've got talent, and I think you're marketable."

"Thank you," Beca said, feeling her confidence swell. Aubrey tilted her head to the side, studying the woman across the table with a shrewd expression on her face.

"We're looking for a fresh face to produce Donald's album. He's got a," she glanced at the Indian man. "Unique style that I think would mesh well with your talent, and Drive is looking for a new sound. That being said, I think you'd make a great addition to this team, but I need to hear more from you before I can make any commitments. Do you have a demo?"

Beca smiled and pulled the CD and flash drive from her bag, placing them on the table in front of her. "Which do you prefer?"

* * *

Chloe sat in the mostly empty hair and makeup trailer, idly scrolling through the pictures on her phone as Stacie loosely wrapped strands of red hair around a curling iron. She paused on the one Aubrey had taken of her and Beca sleeping on the porch, smiling as she took in Beca's sleeping smile. The next picture she scrolled to was one she'd forced Beca to take with her, Chloe smiling brightly while Beca rolled her eyes. In the next one, Beca had cooperated, looking at Chloe with a shy smile right as the picture had been taken.

"Okay, that's fucking cute," Stacie said, looking over Chloe's shoulder. The two women had met several years ago when Chloe had done a movie in Atlanta, and Stacie had doubled as a makeup artist and an extra playing Hooker #3. They'd hit it off immediately, and when Stacie moved to LA, Chloe insisted on using her as part of her hair and makeup team whenever possible. Today, Stacie was multi-tasking since Chloe's hairstylist had called out sick. "You look happy."

"I am," Chloe smiled, setting the picture as her phone's background. "She's great, Stace."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "She just... she's not like anyone else. She's special. Different."

"How so?"

"I dunno, she just... is. There's just something about her."

"Well, I want details," the tall woman smirked, meeting the redhead's eyes in the mirror. "I saw those pictures in Spotted!. Spill."

Chloe grinned mischievously. "Would you believe me if I told you we aren't having sex?"

"What?!" Stacie nearly dropped the curling iron. "How long have you guys been a thing again?"

"A little over a month," she shrugged.

"And she's not hitting this?" Her hand circled the air around Chloe. "What, is she blind? Or crazy? Or, wait... is she a virgin?"

"No," Chloe rolled her eyes. "To all of the above. We're just taking it slow and seeing where things go."

Stacie narrowed her eyes, curling the last section of hair. "You're falling in love with her."

Chloe smiled down at her lap. "I know."

"And are you okay with that?"

"Yeah. I think I am."

"Well, good," Stacie set the curling iron on the counter in front of them, adjusting the loose curls so that they cascaded down Chloe's shoulders. She shook a can of hairspray and lightly sprayed Chloe's hair. "But if she hurts you, she's gonna get a stiletto up the-"

"Don't worry," Chloe cut off what was sure to be a particularly violent threat, coughing slightly. "Aubrey's already got that covered."

"Good. Now she has backup."

"I don't think it'll be necessary, but thank you."

Stacie leaned against the counter, facing Chloe with folded arms. "Are you really happy?"

"I really am. She makes me feel like a real person again. I haven't felt this good since before Tom."

If Stacie was surprised to hear Chloe mention her ex, she showed no sign of it, only smiling down at her friend proudly. The relationship and subsequent breakup had taken its toll on Chloe, stressing her out and dragging her down until she was nearly unrecognizable. For the first time in several months, Stacie could see her getting back to her old self, a relieving change from the doom and gloom that had plagued the singer.

"Well, I definitely want to meet her."

"You will soon. She's coming to that charity thing on Wednesday afternoon." Chloe checked her phone, and then stood.

"I look forward to it," Stacie said, a glint in her eye that Chloe knew all too well. The two women walked out of the trailer together, squinting in the bright sunlight.

"Do not try to scare her. Or seduce her. Or-"

"Relax. I'm just going to get to know her."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better."

Stacie slung an arm around Chloe's shoulders, taking care not to crush her curls. "It shouldn't."

* * *

That night, Beca sat on her couch, idly surfing the internet. Jesse had gone out for a "bro night" with a very reluctant Luke and a few of their other guy friends, leaving Beca to a peacefully empty apartment. A mix played softly in the background as she clicked around, checking a few music blogs and absently playing Bubble Shooter. She was about to close her laptop and fix herself something to eat when an idea struck, and she opened Google in a new tab. After typing in Chloe's name, she hesitated before hitting enter, waiting a moment for the page to load. Unsurprisingly, Beca's own name popped up several times, as did Chloe's ex Tom. Beca moved to close the page when something caught her eye. Several pictures from earlier that day had been posted, showing Chloe and a busty brunette looking very cozy on what looked like back of a studio lot. Beca frowned at the way the tall girl's arm was draped across Chloe's shoulder, and how comfortable Chloe looked with it. She studied the pictures for several minutes, trying to ignore the burning feeling in her stomach.

"You know, you really shouldn't leave your door unlocked."

"Holy shit!" Beca jumped violently, nearly sending her laptop flying. She whipped her head around to face a grinning Chloe, clutching a hand to her chest. "Jesus Christ, Chlo', you gave me a heart attack."

"Good," she plopped down next to Beca and curled up against her. "Because you need to lock your door."

"Duly noted, but that one was Jesse's fault. He must've forgotten when he left."

"Where is he?"

"Bro night," Beca rolled her eyes. "I wasn't invited."

"Aw, poor Beca," Chloe pouted, tiptoeing her fingers up Beca's thigh. "Left all by herself."

"Why do you think I called you?" She covered the girl's wandering hand with her own, lacing their fingers together. "How was work?"

"Eh, fine. How did your meeting go?"

"I think it went well."

"What did they say?"

"Well, they took my demo and Shannon Kale is listening to it, which is terrifying. They're thinking about bringing me on as a producer for an up and coming artist that they seem to think is going to be big for them."

"Beca, that's great!" Chloe gave her a tight squeeze, to which Beca rolled her eyes but returned. "When will you know for sure?"

"I'm not sure. They're supposed to call me sometime soon."

"I'm really, really happy for you. You deserve it."

"Thanks," Beca gave her a small smile.

"So I was thinking-" Chloe broke off, glancing over at Beca's screen. "What is that?"

"Huh? Nothing," she quickly moved to slam the computer shut, but Chloe's hand stopped her.

"Did you Google me?"

"Maybe."

"Find anything interesting?" The redhead smirked, taking in Beca's flushed face.

"Just her," she pointed to the brunette in the pictures with a forced nonchalance. "She's pretty."

"Yeah, she is," Chloe agreed. "And she's a great dancer."

"Oh really?"

"Mm-hm. Good kisser too."

"Oh?" Beca's voice came out a strangled squeak.

"She's also one of my best friends and completely straight," Chloe laughed at the pained expression on Beca's face, unable to keep up the charade any longer. "That's Stacie."

Beca looked somewhat relieved, though her shoulders were still drawn tight and she'd begun twisting one of her rings. "Oh."

"You'll meet her on Wednesday."

"Great."

"Beca, you know I was just messing with you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," she said, biting her lip in thought. "I just... I don't like the thought of sharing you."

"Beca Mitchell, are you jealous?"

Beca met her eyes, a serious expression on her face. "Yes."

"Oh," Chloe said, surprised. "What're you going to do about it?"

"Ask you to be my girlfriend," Beca placed the laptop on the coffee table, turning so that she was facing a slightly stunned Chloe. She took a deep breath and spoke before her courage could fail her. "Look, Chloe, I'm not good at sharing. The thought of you with anyone else but me makes me sick. I think you're wonderful and smart and talented and beautiful, and I want other people to be able to see that, but I want to be the only one who gets to have you. So-"

She was cut off by a hand wrapped around the back of her neck and Chloe's lips pressing firmly against her own. They broke the kiss, and Chloe rested their foreheads together, refusing to let go.

"Beca," she said with a smile. "You already do."

"So is that a yes to the girlfriend thing?" Beca's smile was wide.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Shut up and kiss me."

Beca happily obliged, letting herself be pushed back until she was laying flat on the couch. The kiss grew more heated, Beca biting down gently on Chloe's bottom lip, drawing a soft moan and causing the other girl's hips to press down slightly. She felt Chloe's hand move its way up her shirt, tracing over her stomach and traveling higher. Before they lost themselves completely, Beca pulled back, one hand stilling Chloe's through her shirt.

At the redhead's questioning look, Beca just grinned. "Nuh uh. Bed."

Chloe stood and extended her hand to Beca, who took it and allowed herself to be pulled up. She smirked and cocked an eyebrow as darkened eyes predatorily raked over her disheveled form, holding back until Chloe's tongue darted out to wet her lips. With that, Beca propelled herself towards Chloe, meeting her lips with a fierce, possessive kiss, hands gripping tightly to her hips and pulling her impossibly closer. She walked them backwards, both of them discarding clothes as they stumbled towards Beca's room, closing the door behind them with a firm click.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Let me start off by apologizing for the delay with this chapter! Between having my identity stolen, packing, moving, unpacking, dealing with new roommates, an unfortunately blurry Saturday night, starting school, and getting back into work, I've been a little bit busy. But extra super special thanks to Liz for dealing with me while I was a shitshow and for beta-ing as usual! **

* * *

Beca crept quietly out of her room, softly shutting the door as to not wake Chloe. Buttoning her oversized flannel haphazardly, she tiptoed around a pile of laundry and into the dark kitchen, shivering when her bare feet met cold tile. She opened a cabinet and stretched for a mixing bowl on the top shelf, fingertips just barely catching the edge and pulling it towards her. Placing the bowl on the counter, she opened the fridge, searching for a moment before she found the milk.

"I know that look."

"Jesus, fuck!" Beca jumped, nearly dropping the milk. She whirled around to face Jesse, who was standing at the door to the apartment. "What the fuck, dude?"

"Oh God," he slapped a hand over his eyes as she closed the refrigerator and turned the stove light on. "Please tell me you have pants on."

She rolled her eyes. "You're good, you idiot. Keep your voice down."

He peeked through his fingers and slammed his eyes shut. "Dude, underwear does not count as pants."

"Ugh, fine," she stalked over to the pile of laundry and yanked a pair of giant sweatpants off of the top, pulling them on quickly and rolling the waistband several times, the bottoms still dragging the ground. "You can open your eyes now, even though I don't know what the big deal is."

"Thank you. It's because it's like seeing my sister. I mean, you look good, I guess, but gross," he said, plopping down at the kitchen table. He eyed her choice of pants. "Are those mine?"

"I can go back to underwear," she threatened, opening another cabinet and pulling out a pancake mix. "You're back early."

"Luke kicked me out because he had to go to work," he shrugged. "So?"

"'So' what?"

At his silence, she turned to look at him, her eyes quickly finding the lacy pink bra he held up with one finger, knowing smirk on his face. Her face burned as she snatched it from him, shoving it deep into the pocket of her sweatpants.

"Good night?"

"Fuck off."

He just grinned as she turned back to the stove. "I think you got a little something on your neck there, Bec. Looks like a bruise. Or five."

"I will kill you in your sleep," she pointed a batter covered spoon at him, narrowing her eyes.

"So it was good then, I guess?" He teased, earning himself a hard flick on the forehead. "Ow!"

"Shhh," Beca turned the stove on and pulled out the lone skillet. "She's sleeping."

"She's still here?"

"No, I kicked her out," she rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I'm making breakfast?"

"I thought you just missed me," he gave an exaggerated pout, batting his eyes dramatically.

"Keep dreaming."

"She didn't have to be on set today?"

Beca shook her head. "Day off. How was bro night?"

"Fine," he shrugged, watching her cook. "Want me to do some bacon?"

"Sure."

They cooked in companionable silence as the sun rose in the window behind them, the only sound the sizzle of the bacon and the scrape of the spatula against the pan. Beca flipped and stacked pancakes, making each of them a plate. Once she was finished, she set the plates on the table and got some strawberries from the fridge, sitting at the empty spot at the table. Before she could begin cutting the fruit, Chloe emerged from the bedroom wearing one of Beca's shirts and looking slightly tousled.

"Morning," she yawned, shuffling over to Beca and pressing a soft, lingering kiss to her lips. "Hi Jesse."

"Hey," he grinned, poking at the bacon as she settled herself on Beca's lap. "Good night?"

Chloe smirked, toying with a strand of Beca's hair. "The best."

"You're such an ass," Beca snapped at him, unconsciously wrapping an arm around Chloe's waist and pulling her closer.

"You love me," he danced away from her death glare, removing the bacon from the stove.

"Doesn't mean I like you," she grumbled, letting Chloe slide off her lap and into the chair next to her. Jesse brought over the bacon and maple syrup as Beca made quick work of the strawberries.

"How was your bro night?" Chloe asked Jesse, taking the plate of bacon he handed her.

"It was fine," he shrugged. "Nothing special."

"Okay, spill," Beca pointed her fork at him. "You always come back from bro nights with some kind of story."

"There's no story," he helped himself to the strawberries. "It was just nothing special."

"So what's her name?" Beca asked with a sly grin.

"Who?" He feigned confusion, steadfastly staring at the ceiling.

"The girl who's got you all in a twist."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh. Sure you don't."

"Not a clue," he said. "How was your meeting?"

"Way to change the subject," she rolled her eyes. "It went well, I think."

"Yeah? What'd they say?"

"They're interested in bringing me on as a producer for this guy's album," she stole a strawberry from Chloe's plate and popped it in her mouth, earning herself a playfully stern glare. "But they want to listen to my demo and think about things before they commit."

"That's great, Bec!"

"Tell him what else they said," Chloe nudged her with a proud smile. At Beca's confused look, she confessed. "Aubrey told me."

"What'd they say?" Jesse asked.

"Shannon Kale said she liked me, and that I was talented," Beca grinned down at the table. "And she said I was marketable, which I don't really get, but okay."

"You are marketable," Chloe said, surprised.

Beca snorted. "No I'm not."

"Yeah you are."

"What does that even mean?"

"Come with me," Chloe stood, pulling Beca up.

"Where are we going?" Beca gazed desolately at her plate as Chloe dragged her by the hand, leaving Jesse to roll his eyes as he found himself alone at the table. "What about my pancakes?

"They aren't going anywhere. Come on," she led her into the bathroom and flipped the light switch, turning so that they faced the mirror and kicking the door shut.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm showing you how you're marketable," Chloe said as if they were discussing the weather, standing behind her. "Look at yourself, Bec."

"Okay?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and lifted a hand to Beca's hair, finger combing it gently. "To start, you have great hair. Every day is like the Beca Mitchell hair porn extravaganza."

"Hair porn?"

"Shh, it's a thing." She moved a hand down to Beca's ears, fingering her ear spike gently. "Then you have this whole 'badass scary alt chick' thing down. Except being a midget kind of takes away from the scary factor."

"Hey!"

"Then," Chloe ignored her, moving her fingers to brush Beca's cheek softly, ghosting over her lips. Beca's eyes tracked the movement in their reflection, heart beginning to pound. "You have really pretty skin, and when you actually smile your whole face lights up. And your eyes are fucking gorgeous."

"So are yours," Beca murmured against Chloe's fingertips.

"Shh," she pressed a finger to against her lips. She then ran her hands down Beca's arms slowly, feeling the smaller girl's skin erupt into goosebumps as she traced over the tattoos, and stopping once she reached her hands. "Then you have these tattoos, which are cool and weird and different and totally you. Then your hands are..." She winked, whispering in Beca's ear. "Talented."

Beca flushed, but smirked back.

Chloe moved her hands to the curves of Beca's waist, practically purring in her ear. "You have curves in _all_ the right places." She slipped her hands inside the flannel, tracing over the plane of her stomach and feeling Beca's breathing hitch. "You have fantastic abs for someone who claims to be allergic to exercise." Her hands travelled higher, lips moving against Beca's neck, "Not to mention-"

She was cut off by Beca whirling around and nearly attacking her with a kiss, clutching her shirt and pulling her in closer. She responded in kind, Beca's back pressing up against the counter, shivering as a quiet moan escaped her at the contact. Chloe removed her hands from under Beca's shirt to the front, clumsily pulling at buttons. Beca moved to help her when there was a loud knock at the door.

"You know, some of us might want to actually use the bathroom," Jesse's voice came through the door.

Chloe looked at Beca and giggled at her annoyed expression.

"Sorry," she called out, placing a quick kiss on Beca's lips and breezing out the door, leaving a sheepish looking Jesse to wither under the force of Beca's glare.

* * *

Chloe slipped into Aubrey's office as the blonde finished up a phone call, dropping into a chair in front of her desk. She looked around the familiar office, taking in the various pictures adorning the cream walls, smiling at the ones of the two of them. Aubrey wrapped up her call and sat back, sighing tiredly.

"You okay?" Chloe asked, leaning back in her own chair.

Aubrey nodded. "Just tired. I was up late."

"How come?"

She shifted her eyes, shuffling some papers on her desk. "Just... talking."

"To who?"

"A guy."

Chloe's face lit up. "Who?"

"Nope," Aubrey popped the "p."

"Aubreyyyyyy."

"No. Not yet."

"Ugh, fine," Chloe pouted, crossing her arms.

"Nice shirt," she raised an eyebrow at the flannel wrapping her friend's frame.

"It's Beca's."

"No way," she deadpanned.

"Way," Chloe shot back with a grin. "We're official, now."

"That's great!" She gave a genuine smile. "How'd that happen?"

"She got jealous. Over Stacie."

Aubrey let out a loud laugh. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. "I might've encouraged it a little."

"Bitch."

"Worked though. Oh God, did it work."

"Ugh. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. Me too," she smiled to herself. "But you didn't call me here for that."

"No, I didn't," Aubrey sighed. She hesitated for a moment, and then steeled herself. "Beca's still coming to the charity thing on Wednesday, right?"

"As far as I know. Why?"

"Tom will also be there."

Chloe felt her stomach lurch in unpleasant surprise. "Are you sure?"

Aubrey nodded regretfully. "He tweeted about it. But Stacie and I will be there, and so will Beca. Tell her to bring Jesse and Luke, if she wants. He won't cause a scene if there are more people around."

"Okay," Chloe sighed. "I'll ask her."

"Are you okay?"

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think. I mean, I don't want to see him, but I'm not a mess or anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she looked up, smiling slightly more dimly than normal, but making an effort all the same. "Beca will be there."

"A knight in shining ear spikes," Aubrey teased. "She could probably actually hurt someone with those things."

"Don't tell her that. She'll get ideas."

"I won't. You're sure you're okay?"

"Really, I'm fine," Chloe stood, stretching out and running a hand through her hair. "Thanks for warning me."

"Sure."

"Want to grab some lunch? I'm starving."

"You didn't eat at Beca's?" Aubrey stood, gathering her purse and keys and closing her laptop.

"Oh, I did," Chloe suggested with a smirk, her tone causing Aubrey to look up and then wrinkle her nose. "Several times."

"God, Chloe," she scrunched up her face in discomfort.

"Hm, that's what Beca said," she winked, watching her best friend squirm.

"You're disgusting," Aubrey rolled her eyes as Chloe linked their arms together.

"Uh huh," she nodded, steering them out the door. "It's part of my charm."

"If you say so," Aubrey removed her arm from Chloe's and turned off the light as they left the office.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: So APPARENTLY my Spanish teacher thinks that assigning 200 questions, a 300 word blog post, and a Skype session with our partner class in Chile is an acceptable amount for a week's homework. She is wrong and I don't speak Spanish and the delay with this chapter can mostly be blamed on her. The next chapter might be similarly delayed, just because school and I'm probably moving again, but thank you so much for your patience! Also thanks to Liz, who I may have killed with this chapter. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Aubrey Posen was going to toss her cookies. She paced in the empty parking spot next to Chloe's car, alternating between panicking and shooting withering glares in the general direction of Chloe, who had the good grace to at least appear apologetic, and Beca, who did not. Jesse squirmed next to them, desperately uncomfortable and pulling at the neck of his white t-shirt. They'd all been instructed to wear jeans and a casual white shirt, which, Aubrey's case, might have been a bad decision since she looked as if she would blow chunks at any minute. She clutched her phone to her ear, taking deep breaths and scowling ferociously towards at Beca's small smirk. The phone rang several times before Aubrey finally spoke.

"Stace?" She barked, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Where are you? Please tell me you're carrying concealer."

At this, Beca's smirk grew, causing Chloe to elbow her. Beca gazed up at her innocently, trying to hold back a laugh as the redhead's lips twitched towards a smile.

"Yes, it's an emergency. Chloe has a hickey," Aubrey spat, sending Beca her deadliest glare yet. "Because, Stacie, _this is a children's charity._"

Chloe desperately tried to hold back her laughter, contorting her face into a pained combination of remorse and mirth to which Aubrey rolled her eyes. Jesse mumbled something about finding a restroom, and quickly made his escape down the hill and towards the carnival.

"Fine. See you in five," she snapped, hanging up the call and narrowing her eyes at Beca. "Seriously? A hickey? What are you, sixteen?"

"Sorry," Beca shrugged, still smirking slightly.

"No you're not."

"Nope," she grinned, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet as she remembered the night before.

"Be nice," Chloe whispered, pinching Beca's arm lightly.

"Ow!"

"Both of you just sit down and be quiet," Aubrey said, a steely tone to her voice that even Beca recognized as dangerous. They leaned against the back of Chloe's car, following orders until Stacie arrived. As soon as she did, she burst out laughing at the cowed couple and Aubrey's furious expression.

"This is not funny," Aubrey hissed, face turning a delicate shade of green.

"Oh yes it is," Stacie wiped tears from her eyes. She turned to Chloe. "Alright, let me see it."

Chloe turned her head slightly, angling her neck for Stacie to see. When she caught sight of the bruise, the taller girl started laughing again, facing Beca this time and holding out her hand. "Nice one, kid. I'm Stacie."

"Beca," she smirked, shaking her hand. "Thanks."

"Do _not_ encourage her," Aubrey said through gritted teeth. "This is a charity for children with _cancer_ and Chloe shows up with a hickey. Classy."

"She's not the only one," Beca mumbled. "You just can't see mine."

"No," Aubrey shook her head, willing herself to remove Beca's statement from her brain. While she didn't care that Chloe and Beca were sleeping together, she definitely did not want to know the details.

"To be fair, it wasn't like we meant for this to happen," Chloe folded her arms, keeping her head tilted as a still chuckling Stacie began dabbing makeup over the mark. "We got carried away."

"Damn right," Stacie muttered, causing Beca to start laughing and Aubrey to close her eyes and count slowly to ten.

* * *

Once Stacie had worked her magic, the foursome made their way down to the carnival, the bruise on Chloe's neck just barely visible. Beca took Chloe's hand in her own, lacing their fingers together and squeezing once. Chloe smiled down at her affectionately, failing to notice the photographer capturing the moment. Aubrey, however, did notice, and let herself fall behind to talk to the man.

"I'm allowed to be here," he rolled his eyes, flashing his credentials at her.

"I'm aware of that, thank you," she said coolly. "I have a proposition for you."

"Oh yeah?" He grinned as his eyes raked up and down her form.

"Not that kind," she rolled her eyes. "A business proposition."

"Okay?"

"Every picture you take of Beca and Chloe-"

"You know they're calling them Bechloe now?"

"Ew," Aubrey wrinkled her nose. "Though it's better than Chlom was, I guess. But I'll make you a deal."

"What're you talking?"

"What's your hourly rate?"

"A hundred bucks an hour. Why?"

"I'll pay your hourly rate in cash if you exclusively give me all of your pictures of Chloe and Beca at the end of the day."

"Do you know how much money that could potentially lose me?"

"Would you like to make seven hundred dollars today or not?"

The man thought her offer over, making her wait impatiently. "Fine. But I get to sell at least one."

"Okay, but I get to choose which one it is," Aubrey nodded. At his dubious look, she rolled her eyes. "It'll be a good one, I promise. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal," he shook her hand and they exchanged business cards before parting ways.

* * *

"So what exactly is this thing?" Jesse gestured towards the carnival, having rejoined the group now in hopes of calmer waters.

"It's by the Dream Big foundation," Chloe said, looking around for Aubrey. "They put on this carnival every year for kids who are really sick, and let them just be kids for a day, and give their parents a little bit of a break."

"That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it's usually a lot of fun," she said distractedly, standing on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. "Where did Aubrey go?"

Beca tugged her down by the hand. "She probably had to go make a phone call or something."

"I'm right here," Aubrey said from behind them, looking suspiciously pleased with herself. "Let's go, we have to get our buddies."

"Buddies?" Beca asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Oh, I forgot," Chloe said as they walked towards a large tent. "They assign each of us a kid to spend the day with."

"Even me?"

"You and Jesse might not, since you were kind of last minute additions."

"Okay," Beca shrugged. "How old are the kids?"

"Anywhere from five to twelve," Aubrey answered. "But we're getting younger ones, probably."

"How do you know?" Jesse asked from the back of the group.

"Because Stacie got a twelve year old boy one time and he might've had to be given oxygen because she made him so nervous that he started hyperventilating."

"That was not my fault," Stacie grumbled as the others laughed.

Ten minutes later, they had signed in and met up with their assigned kids. Since Beca and Jesse hadn't gotten on the list in time, they were left partnerless, while Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie each received the name of their buddy. While Jesse joined Aubrey and Stacie in walking towards the eight year olds, Chloe and Beca made their way to a group of five year old girls and their parents.

"Excuse me," Chloe addressed the kids, smiling gently. "Are any of you Taylor Cooper?"

"I'm Anne Cooper," one of the mothers smiled and stepped forward, a small face peeking out from behind her legs. She stepped aside, revealing a thin, pale little girl wearing a hat and overalls. "And this is Taylor."

"Hi Taylor," Chloe said, causing the girl to duck back behind her mother. "I'm Chloe."

"She's very shy," Anne said tiredly. She turned to her daughter, pulling her gently out from behind her. "Honey, don't you want to say hi?"

The girl looked up at Chloe apprehensively before running back behind her mother and burying her face in the denim of Anne's jeans.

"We'd understand if you wanted to go request a different-" Anne began, but stopped in surprise, for Beca had plopped down on the ground next to her.

"Hey," she said, catching Taylor's wide eyed expression. "I'm Beca. What's your name?"

"Taylor," she whispered, still clutching her mother's pant leg.

"How old are you?"

"Five," she released the fabric to display five small fingers.

"Whoa," Beca nodded, ignoring Chloe's dropped jaw. "You're really old."

"Nuh uh," Taylor shook her head with a small giggle, stepping slightly closer.

"Uh huh," she grinned. "I like your hat."

"Your hair's pretty," Taylor stepped closer and reached out a hand, gently touching Beca's hair. "I don't have any more hair. What's on your ears?"

"Earrings," Beca said, letting the little girl touch them gently.

"You have a lot!"

"I know," she smiled. "Want to go get some cotton candy?"

Taylor looked up at her mother, who was looking at Beca with slight awe. "Go ahead. You guys have fun."

"Come on," Beca said, standing up and offering her hand to Taylor. The girl took it hesitantly, but allowed herself to be led out of the tent and into the carnival.

* * *

Four hours later, Chloe was still in shock. Taylor had warmed up to Beca even more, and was currently chattering her ear off. Beca had even gotten her to briefly interact with Chloe while she went to get them some napkins after a particularly sticky cotton candy incident. For now, Chloe sat at a picnic table while Beca and Taylor waited in line to ride the Ferris wheel, standing behind Aubrey and Stacie.

"She's afraid of heights, you know," Jesse's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Beca?"

"Mm hm," he nodded, taking a sip of his drink as he sat down next to her.

"Then why's she going on the Ferris wheel?"

"Because Taylor wants to go on the Ferris wheel," he shrugged.

"She's good with kids," Chloe mused, watching as Beca taught the three kids a complicated clapping game. Stacie watched with interest, while Aubrey looked less thrilled.

"She always has been," Jesse said. "She used to want to be a teacher."

"Really?" Chloe's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What changed?"

"You'll have to ask her that," he said. "Oh look, there they go."

They watched for a moment as the little group piled into separate cars, the new green tinge to Beca's face somewhat reminiscent of Aubrey.

"Will she be okay?" Chloe asked worriedly. One of Beca's hands was clamped tightly around the lap bar, and her eyes grew wide as the car lifted off the ground.

Jesse glanced up and waved her words away. "Oh, yeah, she'll be fine. Once she gets to the top, she'll be okay."

"She does like the top," Chloe murmured without thinking, causing the tips of Jesse's ears to burn red.

"Dude," he cringed.

"Sorry," she laughed. "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"I could've gone my whole life without hearing that."

"Oh shut up," she grinned wickedly. "I'd say bite me, but Beca already did."

"You have a gift of making everything into some kind of innuendo, did you know that? You're like a dude."

"It's part of her charm," a deep voice said behind them. Chloe's head whipped around to face the person she'd been dreading seeing all day. "Hi Chloe."

"Tom."

"Can we," he paused, glancing towards Jesse. "Talk?"

"Uh," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Jesse, do you-"

"I'll just go make sure Beca doesn't actually puke. I'll be over there if you need me," he said, giving Tom a warning look.

"I don't think he likes me," Tom joked weakly once Jesse had left. Chloe simply raised an eyebrow and nodded once, lips pursed. "You look good."

"Thank you."

"Come on, Chloe, talk to me," he pleaded, his handsome face twisted into a frown as he walked around the table to stand in front of her.

"About what?"

"I miss you."

"That's nice."

"Chloe," he said, reaching for her hand. She pulled it back quickly. "Look, I know I fucked up, and I'm sorry. What I did was really shitty, and it was selfish, and I shouldn't have done it. You deserve better than some cheating bastard like me."

"You're right," she said, noticing Beca and company exiting the Ferris wheel out of the corner of her eye. She saw Jesse say something, and everyone's heads snapped over to look at her. She sighed. "What do you want, Tom?"

"You," he said, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. "Us. Back together. I meant what I said, about being sorry. I just really miss you, and I want you back."

"I'm dating someone," she said coldly. "Funny how that's what it takes to make you come back around."

"Seeing you with someone else made me realize what I was missing," he tried.

"Bullshit."

"Don't be that way."

"Tom," she sighed again, running a hand through her hair. "I'm with Beca now, okay? She makes me really happy, and I love her. You and me are never going to happen again, so just drop it."

"You love her?"

"Is there a problem here?" Beca approached, eyes darting between Chloe and Tom. He gave her a once over, and turned back to Chloe, scoffing.

"You're really picking this... this _dyke_ over me? Are you kidding?"

"Excuse me?" Beca laughed in disbelief.

"Don't fucking call her that," Chloe snarled, losing her cool for the first time and standing so that she was nose to nose with her ex-boyfriend. "Don't you ever fucking call her that again, you fucking _asshole-_"

"Okay, that's enough," Beca said, wedging herself between Chloe and Tom, pushing Chloe back. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in her ear. "Thank you, but remember where you are, okay? Breathe."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, feeling her face flush. Thankfully, not many people seemed to have noticed, and there wasn't a photographer to be found. Once she was satisfied that Chloe wasn't going to flip out, Beca turned back to Tom, failing to notice Aubrey and Jesse moving in.

"I think you should go."

"Oh, do you?"

"Yeah, I do," Beca nodded, casually examining her fingernails. "Or else you're going to really regret it."

"Are you threatening me?" He laughed.

She looked up seriously, voice calm. "Yes."

"I'm really scared," he rolled his eyes.

"You should be," Aubrey said, her voice like ice. Tom jumped and whirled around, facing the furious blonde.

"Aubrey," he said, sounding nervous for the first time. He eyed Jesse, who stood with his arms crossed threateningly.

"You have thirty seconds to get as far away from us as you can," she said, advancing on him. "Starting now."

"Come on, Aubrey," he said, backing away slowly. "We're all friends here."

"Twenty seconds," she tilted her head, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

He looked to Chloe, who still wore a furious expression. "Think about what I said, yeah?"

At her incredulous look, he took off, causing Beca to relax slightly.

"Thanks," she said, pushing a hand through her hair and turning towards Chloe. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Chloe nodded as Beca took her hands, forcing her to unclench her fists.

"It's just a word, Chlo," Beca murmured, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "It's okay."

"What did he say?" Aubrey asked, fearing the worst.

"He called her a dyke," Chloe spat, shaking with anger. "I'm so sorry, Bec, I'm so sorry."

"He _what_?" Jesse's temper flared. He looked to Beca. "He called you a what?"

"Guys," Beca said quietly, looking around them. "As much as I appreciate this, we're still in a very public place with kids around. Can we like, not?"

"We're talking about this later," Jesse fumed.

"You're damn right we are," Chloe affirmed.

"Fine. But for now, let's just try to have fun, okay?"

* * *

That night, an exhausted Beca sat on Chloe's couch, sick of hearing Tom's name. They had been over the day's events countless times, to the point where Beca would honestly rather go hang out with Tom than hear about him. Jesse was beyond furious at the way Beca had been treated, and even the promise of ice cream if he stopped talking didn't calm him down. Chloe was no better, still fired up with anger. Even Stacie had gotten in on the action before she'd left, pissed about the way he'd spoken to Chloe. Only Aubrey seemed as sick of the subject as Beca, and it was her who finally broke up the powwow.

"Alright, as fun as this is, I need to get going. You guys call me if you need anything, okay?"

Beca nodded, rubbing at her temple in an attempt to stave off her growing headache.

"I'm going to head out too," Jesse stood, stretching. "Beca, are you staying here?"

She glanced at Chloe and nodded again, closing her eyes. "Text me when you get home."

"Will do," he punched her lightly on the shoulder as he followed Aubrey out. "Bye Chloe."

"Bye," she called, eyes on Beca's tired form. She crossed the room and sat next to Beca, who cracked one eye open to look at her. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, biting her lip. At Beca's nod, she continued. "I'm sorry about everything today. It wasn't supposed to go this way. We were going to avoid Tom, have fun, take some pictures, and go home, that's it. I-"

"You knew Tom was going to be there?" Beca asked, raising her head to look at Chloe fully.

"Yeah," she looked down.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you'd be mad."

"I'm more mad that you kept it from me," Beca said, jaw clenched. "If you'd just told me, I wouldn't have been you know, thrilled, but I would've gotten over it. Instead, you let me go in blind, and that's not cool, Chloe, that's not fair."

"I know," she said, voice cracking. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Beca exhaled heavily. "Let's just go to bed, okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said, standing. "Bec?"

"Yeah?"

Chloe said nothing, simply pulling her into a desperate, searing kiss, clutching at her shirt and pulling her close. It was Beca who finally broke the kiss, resting her forehead on Chloe's chest and closing her eyes.

"Please don't lie to me, Chlo," she said, her voice rough. "Don't keep things from me, okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said, pressing a kiss to Beca's temple as the smaller girl practically went limp in her arms. "Okay."


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: You know how they say 13's are unlucky? Thanks as ever to Liz, and apologies for breaking her. **

* * *

Two hours later, Beca slept, curled into Chloe's chest, one hand twisted in the fabric of the redhead's tank top. In sleep, she looked younger, Chloe thought, fingers tracing gently over the tattoo covering Beca's bare shoulder, her favorite. There was a certain vulnerability to the smaller girl as she slept, something almost fragile in the way she unconsciously allowed herself to be wrapped up in Chloe, trusting her completely. Chloe softly placed a kiss on Beca's forehead, causing the brunette's eyes to flutter open.

"Chlo'?" She asked, voice scratchy.

"Shh," Chloe soothed. "Go back to sleep."

Beca ignored her, leaning back slightly in order to see her. "Why're you still up?"

"I can't sleep."

"How come?"

"Just thinking about today," she bit her lip and met Beca's eyes. "I really am sorry about everything. I should've told you."

"Yeah," Beca sighed, scooting closer and positioning herself so that she was nestled under Chloe's chin. "You should've. But it's over now, and you need to sleep. Work tomorrow."

"Okay," she said, slightly tightening her grip on Beca and trying to mimic the rhythm of her breathing.

After several minutes of silence, Beca spoke. "Chlo'."

"Hm?"

"Stop thinking so loud."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it."

"Here," Beca said, shifting slightly and pressing her lips to Chloe's collarbone, her hands wandering up the redhead's shirt.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked, tilting her head as Beca moved up to her neck, peppering soft kisses to the skin.

"Shutting your brain off," Beca's words were muffled against Chloe's jaw. "Shh."

She continued pressing soft kisses to Chloe's skin, moving from her jaw to her ear and back to her neck, making sure not to leave any bruises that would inspire further wrath from Aubrey. She made her way back to Chloe's mouth with a kitten lick to her lips, teasing the redhead, but pulled back suddenly at the taste of salt and the wetness of tears rolling quietly down Chloe's cheeks.

"Whoa, hey" Beca said, eyes widening in alarm. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sniffed, giving a false smile and swiping at her cheeks. "Nothing, I'm fine." She pulled her into a brief, bruising kiss, broken by Beca pulling away.

"No," Beca shook her head, bringing a hand to Chloe's face to wipe the tears that were still falling. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry," she covered her face with both hands, her voice small as she rolled over onto her back. "I'm just really confused right now."

"Join the club," the corner of Beca's mouth twitched up. She gently pulled Chloe's hands from her face, looking down into her eyes. "Want to talk about it?"

"I just," Chloe said, taking a shaky breath. "Today was so... weird."

Beca said nothing, simply using her thumb to rub slow circles on the back of Chloe's hand.

"It just _hurt_, you know? Because I loved Tom so much for so long, and then he acted like that and he hurt you, and you make me so happy, and it's not fair that he hurt you because you're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time and he saw that and that's why he said what he did, and I'm just confused because it hurt to see him but it hurt _more_ that he was hurting you."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because," Chloe said, her voice barely cracking over the word. "You're you. I'm completely yours, and he saw that and used it against me to hurt me by hurting you. I used to love him, and now he's just this stranger who does things to deliberately hurt me. And most of me doesn't care that I don't know him anymore, doesn't care what he does, but there's a part of me that still does a little, you know?"

"Do you still love him?" Beca asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

Chloe took a deep breath, and when she spoke, she sounded surprised. "No." She looked up at Beca, meeting her eyes and blinking with realization. "Not at all."

"Okay," Beca nodded, bringing Chloe's hand to her lips and kissing her palm before interlocking their fingers.

"I love you."

For a moment, Beca's entire body stiffened, her eyebrows shooting upward and the slight widening of her eyes the only indicator that she'd registered what Chloe had said.

Chloe swallowed, half expecting this reaction. "You don't have to say it back. I just... I think I kind of figured that out today, and I wanted you to know. I know it's kind of fast, and I don't want you to feel obligated or anything, I just-"

"Did you know," Beca cut her off, a contemplative expression on her face. "That there's a difference between fucking and making love?"

"Um," Chloe was taken aback, brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't-"

"There is," Beca nodded, as if Chloe had never even spoken. "Huge. Fucking is just... fucking. It's just sex. But making love is opening yourself up to the other person, sharing everything about yourself and having them do the same in return, no judgements, no questions asked. When you make love to somebody, you're giving them a piece of your soul, almost."

"Okay..."

Beca looked seriously down at Chloe, meeting her eyes, lips twisting into a strange echo of her usual smirk. "I've never fucked you, Chlo'." She shook her head, leaning down to press a kiss to Chloe's lips. "Not once."

Chloe's breath caught in her throat as she realized what Beca was implying. "Not even the first...?"

"Not even the first time we slept together," she tucked a strand of hair behind Chloe's ear, fingers lingering on her cheek. "It scares the shit out of me, and I'm not completely sure how to handle it, but I love you."

She felt Chloe's hand wrap around the back of her neck, pulling her so that she lay atop the redhead as she caught her lips in a searing kiss. Chloe pulled back slightly, the breath of her words ghosting against Beca's lips.

"I love you too."

* * *

Late the next afternoon, a very nervous, very jittery Beca sat in the lobby of Drive Records, Aubrey and Benji at her side. Shannon Kale had summoned them to her office, which, according to the two more seasoned professionals, was a good sign. She swallowed as she bounced a leg up and down, feeling her phone vibrate in the pocket of her jeans. A message from Chloe displayed on the screen once she'd fished it out, containing nothing but a heart Emoji. Beca smiled down at the screen before pocketing the phone, looking up to catch Aubrey grinning at her knowingly.

"What?"

"Oh please, like she doesn't tell me everything," Aubrey rolled her eyes at Beca's look of alarm. She nudged the brunette's arm with her own, nearly knocking her into Benji. "I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks," Beca gave her a small, genuine smile.

"How did you two get together?" Benji asked with a kind smile.

Beca blushed, closing her eyes briefly in embarrassment. "I went to a CD signing."

Aubrey bit back a laugh, hastily turning it into a cough at Beca's glare.

"So you were a fan first?"

"I guess," Beca hedged.

"Uh huh, 'you guess'," Aubrey said cryptically. "I know you have copies of everything Chloe's ever done in her career, don't even try to lie to me."

"I do not!"

"You have a DVD of the episode of Guiding Light she was on when she was fifteen and four of her unreleased demos."

Beca's jaw dropped. "How do you know that?"

"I have my ways."

"Ways being secretly dating Jesse," Beca smirked at the way Aubrey's expression changed from smug to surprised to scared to furious in under three seconds.

"He told you?!"

"Nope," her smirk grew into a shit eating grin. "You just did."

"Fuck," Aubrey swore quietly, causing Benji to laugh.

"Miss Mitchell?" A secretary appeared at the door. "Ms. Kale is ready for you."

Beca took a deep breath and stood, ignoring Aubrey's grumbling and discretely wiping her palms on her pants. She glanced over at Benji, who nodded, and she followed the woman back to face Shannon Kale.

* * *

"Higher on the left," Chloe said, standing at a distance to supervise the hanging of a large banner by Jesse and Luke. A handful of Luke, Jesse, and Beca's friends wandered around the pool patio, carefully sidestepping the banner hanging as they milled about.

"Your left or my left?" Jesse asked, the table he stood on wobbling slightly.

"Mine," Chloe squinted slightly. "A little more...There, perfect."

Luke and Jesse climbed down from the tables they stood on, stepping back to stand next to Chloe and admire their handiwork. Streamers and strings of lights decorated the pool area, and a large banner made of yellow construction paper stretched across two tables, taped up high to the tops of the folded umbrellas and spelling out "Congrats Beca!" in a combination of Jesse's messy scrawl, Chloe's neat bubble letters, and Luke's blocky script.

"Okay," Chloe nodded. "This looks nice."

"And Beca has no idea that you're not actually on set?" Luke asked, moving to sit on one of the tabletops next to the grill.

"Nope," Chloe popped the "p," sitting in a plastic chair and taking the beer he offered her.

"Are you ever actually on set?" Jesse teased.

"Yes!" She protested with a laugh. "I just have a small part in this project, so I don't have to be there as much."

"What happened to "no small parts"?" Luke asked.

"Just a myth," she shrugged.

"What's the movie about?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Okay fine," he switched tactics. "What role are you playing?"

"The main character's girlfriend," she took a sip of her beer, missing the look between the two friends.

"Does, uh," Jesse hesitated. "Does Beca know that?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "She seemed fine with it."

"Well," Jesse began, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Beca herself. "Hey! Congratulations!"

"Thanks!" She said, her excited grin nearly breaking her face in half as she practically bounced into Chloe's lap and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Hi," Chloe said breathlessly once they'd pulled apart. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you," she smiled, pressing another quick kiss to her lips before looking around at the decorations. "Is all of this for me?"

"No, it's for Mr. Brown next door," Luke rolled his eyes as he passed Beca a drink. "Yes, it's for you."

She threw her bottle cap at him. "Asshole."

He leaned over and ruffled her hair affectionately, causing her to swat his hand away. "Proud of you, Bec."

She quietly swelled with pride, ducking her head to hide her pleased grin. "Thanks, you guys."

"So when do you start working?" Jesse asked, a proud smile on his face.

"Monday. But I have a lunch meeting with the artist I'm working with tomorrow, just to kind of get to know each other before we start working together."

"Uh oh, a lunch meeting?" Chloe teased, wrapping her arms around Beca's waist and pulling her closer. "Should I be jealous?"

"Oh, definitely," she nodded in mock seriousness. "Long hours in the studio, working closely together, making..." She paused, smirking down at Chloe and dropping her voice lower. "Music."

"Hm," Chloe tilted her head, craning her neck to look at her girlfriend's face. "Guess we'll have to... _celebrate_ later to keep you in line."

"Jesus, Chloe," Aubrey's voice came from behind them as she approached, Stacie and a case of beer in tow. "Put it away."

"Jealous?"

"Not particularly," the blonde quipped.

"Well I am," Stacie said with a wink, passing the case of beer off to Luke. "Congratulations, Beca."

"Thanks," she said once again, her face breaking into the same genuine grin she'd worn all night. Chloe smiled into Beca's shoulder, the brunette's happiness proving to be infectious as she gazed up at her. Beca looked down at her as their friends began chatting, biting her lip shyly. "What?"

"I love you," she said quietly, watching Beca's face light up even more, if possible.

"I love you too."

* * *

Several hours later, the party was still going strong. Luke had evidently invited the pretty girl from the office that he'd been interested in for months, a blonde Australian girl who insisted on calling herself "Fat Amy" and kept the group in stitches half the night with wild stories from her home country. Everyone was enjoying themselves, celebrating Beca and simply having fun as a group, everyone but designated driver Aubrey feeling pleasantly tipsy. Before long, Chloe leaned over and spoke quietly in Beca's ear, sliding a hand onto her thigh.

"I have to pee. Come with me?"

"Seriou- Oh," Beca grinned wolfishly, catching on to her meaning once the hand on her thigh began traveling north. "Yep, bathroom, let's go."

After making a hasty excuse and exit, Chloe led Beca by the hand up to the smaller girl's dimly lit apartment, the door barely closing behind them before she had Beca pressed up against it, lips on her neck. A small moan escaped Beca's lips as Chloe's hands crept under her shirt, her own hands sliding into the redhead's back pockets and pulling her close so that their bodies were flush together. Suddenly, a loud beeping broke them apart, and Beca withdrew Chloe's phone from her pocket as she pulled her hands back. Taking a moment to put the phone on silent, she slid it into her own pocket and took Chloe's face in her hands, guiding her into a slow, building kiss.

Chloe pulled apart, resting her forehead against Beca's and breathing heavily. "I hate to do this, but I actually really do have to pee."

Beca rolled her eyes and laughed, pushing her away gently. "Go."

With a quick peck to her lips, Chloe headed to the bathroom, leaving Beca to find her way to the couch. Vibrating in her pocket, the redhead's phone caught Beca's attention again, prompting her to take it out and turn it off. She hesitated over the power button, the contact name on the text message catching her eye.

_1 new message from Shannon Kale._

Glancing towards the bathroom, she quickly tapped in Chloe's password, unwittingly spelling her own name in the process. The message opened up and, with one more glance in the direction of the bathroom, she read.

_Alright Red, you were right about Beca Mitchell. Signed her today. Owe you one. _

"No." Beca's heart slammed into gear somewhere near her throat, nausea nearly taking over as her head began to spin. This was exactly what she didn't want, exactly what she'd specifically asked for Chloe not to do, exactly the type of situation she'd been trying to avoid, the type of situation Chloe had _lied_ about. She sat frozen in place, stunned, her eyes burning and a lump in her throat as her hands shook. She remained motionless for several minutes, staring at the message in disbelief.

"Hey, Bec, I was thinking that after your lunch tomorrow we could-" Chloe stopped short at the sight of a numb looking Beca staring at her phone. When she spoke again, her voice was less confident. "What- What are you looking at?"

Beca slowly turned her head to face her, expression unreadable. "You tell me."

She held the phone out, and Chloe took it reluctantly, scanning over the message and fighting a swell of panic. "You read my messages?"

"Do you really think that's what's important right now?"

"Beca," Chloe sat on the couch next to her, reaching for her hand, which she snatched back before contact could be made.

"Do not touch me right now."

Chloe bit her lip, heart pounding. "Look, I'm sorry. I called Shannon before we really got serious, and when she actually showed up to listen to you, I thought, you know, I'd just wait and see how things shook out. I never thought it'd get this far."

"You never thought it'd get this far? Really, Chlo'?" Beca laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "So you went behind my back, lied to me, let me think I was making it on my own merit, and you didn't even believe in me enough to think I'd actually get signed. Wow. Thanks a lot."

"That's not what I meant," she said, a lump growing in her throat. "I just... it was taking so long and I didn't want to get your hopes up and make you think that maybe I had some kind of pull that I don't have. I never meant to lie to you, you have to believe me on that."

"It's not just about the fact that you lied to me," Beca's voice cracked slightly with emotion. "God, Chloe, I specifically asked you not to do this from the very beginning. I told you that I didn't want to use your connections, and you went behind my back and did it anyway!"

"I just wanted to help," she choked out, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I didn't ask for your help, dammit!" Beca snarled, dropping her head into her hands and fisting her hair. "And I definitely didn't ask for you to lie about it!"

"Beca, I'm sorry," she was openly sobbing now.

A heavy silence fell over the room, Chloe's sniffling the only sound breaking the oppressive quiet.

"I think," Beca said, her voice low and rough. "I think you should leave."

"What?"

"Go," she said, closing her eyes in order to keep the tears from falling. "Please just go, okay?"

"Beca..."

"Get out, Chloe. Please," she pleaded, voice breaking on the last syllable. "Please get out."

"Fine," Chloe took a shaky breath, standing up slowly. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay? I... I love you."

When Beca didn't respond with anything further than a nod, Chloe bit back a fresh sob and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.

Less than five minutes later, Jesse found Beca still sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall.

"Beca?" He asked cautiously, sitting beside her. "Are you okay?"

"So," she twisted her lips into a pathetic echo of a smile."You and Aubrey, huh?"

"Beca, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, still wearing the sad twist of a smile. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because Chloe just left crying, and you're being kind of scary right now."

"Don't say her name." A flash of anger crossed Beca's face, and with that, her resolve crumbled and her voice shook. "Please don't say her name."

"What happened, Bec?" His question came softly, but it was enough to send the tears rolling down Beca's face.

"She lied to me, Jess," she said, turning her face towards him, the pain etched across her expression so sharply that his stomach clenched. "I love her, and she lied to me."

Jesse said nothing, simply pulling his best friend to his chest and holding her as she broke down in tears, sobs wracking her small frame and soaking his shirt. He rubbed soothing circles on her back as she cried in front of him for the first time since they were sixteen, feeling what he knew was only a fraction of the heartbreak Beca was experiencing.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Guess who's back, back again? Starstruck's back, tell a friend. Special thanks to Liz for beta-ing, and extra special thanks for your patience! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, school has just been kicking my ass. In the time I was away, I turned in over 30 pages of essay, so I really didn't feel like doing more writing at the end of the day! Anyway, thanks again for your patience, and thanks for reading!**

* * *

The next morning, Beca awoke to a sore throat, puffy eyes, and the faint sound of snoring. She was confused for only a moment, caught in that blissfully unaware moment between sleep and consciousness, before the night's events crashed back into her memory with what felt like a punch to the chest. Taking a shaky breath, she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes and looked down to the floor, where Jesse, wrapped in a sleeping bag and snoring softly, lay.

"Dude," she said, wincing at the roughness of her voice. She reached down and shook his shoulder gently. "Jesse."

"What?" He jerked awake, blinking up at her blearily. "Hey."

"What are you doing?"

"Sleeping."

"On my floor?"

"Yeah," he stretched and sat up, joints cracking. "It's not as soft as it looks."

"Jesse."

"Hm?"

"Why are you sleeping on my floor?"

"I don't know if you noticed," he said, smiling slightly. "But you weren't exactly in a good place last night, and I was worried about you."

"Oh. Thanks," she muttered, feeling a swell of gratitude as she remembered Jesse wiping her makeup streaked face with a warm washcloth and tucking her in. "And sorry for crying on you."

"Don't apologize," he shrugged, moving and sitting at the foot of her bed. "Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Too bad." Her head snapped up, and Jesse continued. "We're not just going to pretend this never happened, Bec. You don't get to do that this time. So talk, or we'll call Chloe and-"

"Don't." The word came out sharp, her eyes cold and her jaw clenched.

He leveled his gaze at her, refusing to back down. "Then start talking. Now."

"She lied to me," Beca bit out.

"About what?"

"Jesse."

"Beca."

"She's the reason Drive was interested in me. She called Shannon Kale. She's the reason I got signed."

"And she didn't tell you?"

"No," her voice cracked, causing her to look up at the ceiling and attempt to blink back tears. "I've said from the beginning that I didn't want to use her connections, that I didn't want her help, but then she went behind my back and did it anyway. And you want to know the kicker? The real icing on the cake?" She let out a bitter laugh, looking over at Jesse's concerned face. "When I reminded her of that last night, she said she never expected it to get this far. She didn't even believe in me enough to think I'd actually get signed. She didn't believe in me, Jess."

"I'm sorry, Bec," he reached a hand out, changing his mind and retracting it at the look on her face.

"It's just," she swallowed, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head atop them. "I told her... I told her that I loved her. And then this happened, and now I don't know what to do."

"Do you still love her?"

"Of course," she looked at him incredulously. "But this fucking hurts, and I don't know if I can still trust her or not."

"Want to know what I think?"

"Are you going to tell me anyway?"

"Duh," he grinned at her quickly before settling into a more serious expression. "She messed up, yeah. She should've been straight with you from the beginning, but she didn't do this to hurt you. She was trying to help in the best way she knew how. She went after Shannon Kale for you, dude. Shannon Kale. She put a lot on the line to get your name out there. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't think you were good enough. I'm not condoning what she did, or how she did it, but don't you think you should cut her some slack?"

Beca thought over his words for a moment, chewing her lip in thought. "I hate when you're right."

"Don't worry, it doesn't happen very often," he nudged her knees, shooting her a grin. "So are you going to talk to her?"

"She's supposed to call me today."

"Are you going to answer?"

"We'll see."

* * *

"Chloe! Chloe, over here! Chloe, come on, give us a smile! What's the matter? Hey Chloe, where's Beca?"

Chloe whipped around, wearing a furious expression beneath her large sunglasses. Before she could open her mouth to respond to the paparazzo's heckling, Aubrey was at her elbow and guiding her forward.

"Keep moving, Chlo'," she said, ducking her head until they were safely inside the restaurant. "Mouth shut."

"Sorry," Chloe muttered once they were seated. "And thanks."

Aubrey nodded, and they looked over their menus in somewhat uncomfortable silence, not speaking until they placed their orders. Chloe swirled the ice in her water glass with a straw, looking anywhere but at her best friend.

"So," Aubrey said cooly, raising one eyebrow as she placed her hand atop Chloe's to stop her from playing with her drink. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb."

Chloe sighed, slumping down in her seat. "We had a fight."

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "What happened?"

"She," Chloe swallowed, biting her lip. "She found out that... IwastheonewhocalledShannonKaleandtoldhertocomechec koutBecaatParanoia."

Aubrey blinked. "Come again?"

"Beca found out that I called Shannon Kale to come and check her out at Paranoia."

"You did _what_?"

Chloe hung her head.

"She specifically asked you not to do that! Multiple times!"

"I know."

"And then you didn't even tell her about it?"

"I know."

"God, Chloe-"

"Dammit, Aubrey, I know!" She exploded, causing several other diners to look curiously in their direction. Her face flushed to match her hair, and she lowered her voice, cradling her head in her hands. "I know, okay? I've been beating myself up all night about it, so I really don't need it from you, alright? I fucked it up, you don't need to remind me."

"I wasn't trying to-"

"I know," she sighed, looking up. "I'm sorry."

"So what exactly did she say?"

"She said that she never asked for my help, and didn't ask for me to lie about it. She thought... She thinks I don't believe in her, Bree."

After a brief pause, Aubrey asked, "Do you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then make sure she knows that."

"How?"

Before Aubrey could answer, there was a loud commotion as the door of the restaurant opened, the din of paparazzi overwhelming the room. A tall Indian man walked in, followed by the unmistakable slouch of a clearly exhausted Beca Mitchell. The door closed, restoring relative quiet to the restaurant. Chloe watched as Beca's eyes traveled the room and eventually met her own, brown eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Chloe's heart pounded in her throat as she watched Beca say something to her companion and make her way towards her, expression unreadable.

"Chloe?" Aubrey asked quietly, watching her friend as Beca approached.

The redhead gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head, swallowing hard as her girlfriend came to a stop in front of their table.

"Uh," Beca said, sounding slightly hoarse. "Hi."

"Hi," Chloe's voice came out in a near whisper.

"Hey Aubrey," Beca said, turning to the blonde. "Thanks for driving her home last night."

"Of course," she nodded, standing. "I'm going to run to the restroom, excuse me."

"Can I?" Beca gestured to the now vacant seat. At Chloe's nod, she dropped into the chair, looking defeated. "You look like hell."

"Thanks," Chloe rolled her eyes. "You sound like hell."

"Trust me, I feel a lot worse."

"What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch with Donald. He's the artist I'm working with."

"So you're still taking the job?"

"Of course I am," Beca shrugged, toying with the salt shaker. "I signed a contract, and I'm not going to pass up the opportunity just because I'm mad at you."

"So you're still mad?"

"It's been less than twenty-four hours, Chlo'."

"Oh. Right."

"Can we," Beca began, glancing over towards Donald, who was patiently waiting by the hostess' stand. "Can I come over later? To talk?"

"Yeah," Chloe said quickly, nodding. "Of course. What time?"

"Can I just text you when I'm done here?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Okay," Beca said, standing. She hesitated, and then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Chloe's forehead, causing the redhead's eyes to flutter shut. "See you later."

"Beca," Chloe called out softly as she left, causing the other girl to turn around to face her. "I... I love you."

A half smile popped onto the brunette's face. "I love you too."

* * *

Three hours later, Beca sat at the island in Chloe's kitchen, an uncomfortable silence stretching across the space between them. Unconsciously, Beca tapped out a beat to accompany the sound of the ice maker clunking to life, while Chloe used her finger to draw patterns on the granite countertop, avoiding her girlfriend's eye.

"I'm sorry," Beca broke the silence, her words causing Chloe's head to snap up in surprise.

"For what?"

"The way I acted," she looked down, taking a deep breath. "Or, well, overreacted. I know you were just trying to help, and that you weren't trying to hurt me, and I kind of flew off the handle a little bit. And I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing," Chloe said. "I shouldn't have called Shannon in the first place, and I definitely should've told you about it when I did. You have every right to be mad at me."

"Yeah," Beca nodded slowly. "I do. My whole life, I've had people tell me they don't believe in me, didn't think I could make it. And when I found out that you called Shannon, it felt like you were joining that crowd, and it fucking hurt."

"Beca, I-"

"Please," Beca interrupted. "Just let me finish?" Chloe nodded, and she continued. "It hurt. It did. But then I had a talk with Jesse, and that made me think about things. He kind of made me understand that you wouldn't have done what you did unless you thought I could hold my own. And then I realized that yeah, even though I was hurt and you lied, it wasn't worth staying mad about. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and I'd be stupid to let this fuck it all up."

"So you're," Chloe's voice cracked slightly. "You're not breaking up with me?"

"God, no. I'm still a little upset, I won't pretend I'm not. But you're more important to me than a record label deal any day, and I can work through my shit and get past this, if you can."

"I can," she nodded, swiping at the few tears that had fallen. "God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Shh, I know," Beca slid off her stool and closed the gap between them, pulling a still seated Chloe to her chest and holding her tightly. "Don't cry."

"I can't help it," she sniffled. "God, I keep screwing this up, don't I?"

"Yeah," Beca smiled into red curls. "But I call dibs on the next fuck up, okay?"

"Deal," Chloe laughed softly, looking up at her. "I'm kind of surprised at how well this went, if I'm being honest."

"I've spent too much of my life being mad at people," Beca shrugged, stepping back slightly. "I had to learn the hard way that it's not worth it. Plus, it's kind of heartbreaking when you cry."

"Duly noted," she hesitated slightly. "Can I- Can I kiss you?"

"Chloe," Beca rolled her eyes. "You don't have to ask."

She pulled her into a gentle kiss, both girls feeling a sense of relief at the connection of lips, as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.


End file.
